RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Pcdh18a-positive tip cells instruct notochord formation in zebrafish
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 257717
DO 10.1101/257717
A1 Bernadett Bosze
A1 Benjamin Mattes
A1 Claude Sinner
A1 Kathrin Stricker
A1 Victor Gourain
A1 Thomas Thumberger
A1 Sham Tlili
A1 Sabrina Weber
A1 Joachim Wittbrodt
A1 Timothy E. Saunders
A1 Uwe Strähle
A1 Alexander Schug
A1 Steffen Scholpp
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/01/31/257717.abstract
AB The notochord defines the axial structure of all vertebrates during development. Notogenesis is a result of major cell reorganization in the mesoderm, the convergence and the extension of the axial cells. However, it is currently not known how these processes act together in a coordinated way during notochord formation. Analysing the tissue flow, we determined the displacement of the axial mesoderm and identified, relative to the ectoderm, an actively-migrating notochord tip cell population and a group of trailing notochordal plate cells. Molecularly, these tip cells express Protocadherin18a, a member of the cadherin superfamily. We show that Pcdh18a-mediated recycling of E-cadherin adhesion complexes transforms these tip cells into a cohesive and fast migrating cell group. In turn, these tip cells subsequently instruct the trailing mesoderm. We simulated cell migration during early mesoderm formation using a lattice-based mathematical framework, and predicted that the requirement for an anterior, local motile cell cluster could guide the intercalation of the posterior, axial cells. Indeed, grafting experiments validated the predictions and induced ectopic notochord-like rods. Our findings indicate that the tip cells influence the trailing mesodermal cell sheet by inducing the formation of the notochord.