E-cadherin tunes tissue mechanical behavior before and during morphogenetic tissue flows

• Published in: Current biology Vol. 34; no. 15; pp. 3367 - 3379.e5
• Main Authors: Wang, Xun, Cupo, Christian M., Ostvar, Sassan, Countryman, Andrew D., Kasza, Karen E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 05.08.2024
• Subjects: Actomyosin - metabolism; Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Cadherins - metabolism; Cell Adhesion - physiology; cell-cell adhesion; convergent extension; Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism; Drosophila melanogaster - physiology; Drosophila Proteins - genetics; Drosophila Proteins - metabolism; E-cadherin; Embryo, Nonmammalian - metabolism; Embryo, Nonmammalian - physiology; epithelial morphogenesis; Morphogenesis; tissue fluidity; cell-cell adhesion; epithelial morphogenesis; E-cadherin; convergent extension; tissue fluidity
• ISSN: 0960-9822; 1879-0445; 1879-0445
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.038

Adhesion between epithelial cells enables the remarkable mechanical behavior of epithelial tissues during morphogenesis. However, it remains unclear how cell-cell adhesion influences mechanics in both static and dynamically flowing confluent epithelial tissues. Here, we systematically modulate E-cadherin-mediated adhesion in the Drosophila embryo and study the effects on the mechanical behavior of the germband epithelium before and during dramatic tissue remodeling and flow associated with body axis elongation. Before axis elongation, we find that increasing E-cadherin levels produces tissue comprising more elongated cells and predicted to be more fluid-like, providing reduced resistance to tissue flow. During axis elongation, we find that the dominant effect of E-cadherin is tuning the speed at which cells proceed through rearrangement events. Before and during axis elongation, E-cadherin levels influence patterns of actomyosin-dependent forces, supporting the notion that E-cadherin tunes tissue mechanics in part through effects on actomyosin. Notably, the effects of ∼4-fold changes in E-cadherin levels on overall tissue structure and flow are relatively weak, suggesting that the system is tolerant to changes in absolute E-cadherin levels over this range where an intact tissue is formed. Taken together, these findings reveal dual—and sometimes opposing—roles for E-cadherin-mediated adhesion in controlling tissue structure and dynamics in vivo, which result in unexpected relationships between adhesion and flow in confluent tissues. •Elevated E-cadherin levels produce tissues with more elongated cells•E-cadherin levels tune the speed of cell rearrangements in elongating tissues•E-cadherin levels tune tissue mechanics in part through effects on actomyosin•Drosophila axis elongation is robust to 4-fold changes in E-cadherin levels Wang et al. quantitatively study how E-cadherin levels influence tissue structure and dynamics in the Drosophila embryo before and during body axis elongation. They find that E-cadherin levels tune cell shapes and cell rearrangement speeds, in part via effects on actomyosin, and uncover that axis elongation is resilient to changes in E-cadherin levels.