Collective mesendoderm migration relies on an intrinsic directionality signal transmitted through cell contacts

Nance-Horan-syndrome-like 1b controls mesodermal cell migration by regulating protrusion and actin dynamics during zebrafish gastrulation

Cell migrations are crucial for embryonic development, wound healing, the immune response, as well as for cancer progression. During mesenchymal cell migration, the Rac1-WAVE-Arp2/3 signalling pathway induces branched actin polymerisation, which protrudes the membrane and allows migration. Fine-tuning the activity of the Rac1-WAVE-Arp2/3 pathway modulates protrusion lifetime and migration persistence. Recently, NHSL1, a novel interactor of the Scar/WAVE complex has been identified as a negative regulator of cell migration in vitro. We here analysed its function in vivo, during zebrafish gastrulation, when nhsl1b is expressed in migrating mesodermal cells. Loss and gain of function experiments revealed that nhsl1b is required for the proper migration of the mesoderm, controlling cell speed and migration persistence. Nhsl1b localises to the tip of actin-rich protrusions where it controls protrusion dynamics, its loss of function reducing the length and lifetime of protrusions, whereas overexpression has the opposite effect. Within the protrusion, Nhsl1b knockdown increases F-actin assembly rate and retrograde flow. These results identify Nhsl1b as a cell type specific regulator of cell migration and highlight the importance of analysing the function of regulators of actin dynamics in physiological contexts.

Cell type and regulatory analysis in amphioxus illuminates evolutionary origin of the vertebrate head

To shed light on the enigmatic origin of the vertebrate head, our study employs an integrated approach that combines single-cell transcriptomics, perturbations in signaling pathways, and cis-regulatory analysis in amphioxus. As a representative of a basal lineage within the chordate phylum, amphioxus retains many characteristics thought to have been present in the common chordate ancestor. Through cell type characterization, we identify the presence of prechordal plate-like, pre-migratory, and migratory neural crest-like cell populations in the developing amphioxus embryo. Functional analysis establishes conserved roles of the Nodal and Hedgehog signaling pathways in prechordal plate-like populations, and of the Wnt signaling pathway in neural crest-like populations' development. Furthermore, our trans-species transgenic experiments highlight similarities in the regulatory environments that drive neural crest-like and prechordal plate-like developmental programs in both vertebrates and amphioxus. Our findings provide evidence that the key features of vertebrate head development can be traced back to the common ancestor of all chordates.

Perspectives in collective cell migration - moving forward

Collective cell migration, where cells move as a cohesive unit, is a vital process underlying morphogenesis and cancer metastasis. Thanks to recent advances in imaging and modelling, we are beginning to understand the intricate relationship between a cell and its microenvironment and how this shapes cell polarity, metabolism and modes of migration. The use of biophysical and mathematical models offers a fresh perspective on how cells migrate collectively, either flowing in a fluid-like state or transitioning to more static states. Continuing to unite researchers in biology, physics and mathematics will enable us to decode more complex biological behaviours that underly collective cell migration; only then can we understand how this coordinated movement of cells influences the formation and organisation of tissues and directs the spread of metastatic cancer. In this Perspective, we highlight exciting discoveries, emerging themes and common challenges that have arisen in recent years, and possible ways forward to bridge the gaps in our current understanding of collective cell migration.

Organizing collective cell migration through guidance by followers

Morphogenesis, wound healing, and some cancer metastases rely on the collective migration of groups of cells. In these processes, guidance and coordination between cells and tissues are critical. While strongly adherent epithelial cells have to move collectively, loosely organized mesenchymal cells can migrate as individual cells. Nevertheless, many of them migrate collectively. This article summarizes how migratory reactions to cell-cell contacts, also called "contact regulation of locomotion" behaviors, organize mesenchymal collective cell migration. It focuses on one recently discovered mechanism called "guidance by followers", through which a cell is oriented by its immediate followers. In the gastrulating zebrafish embryo, during embryonic axis elongation, this phenomenon is responsible for the collective migration of the leading tissue, the polster, and its guidance by the following posterior axial mesoderm. Such guidance of migrating cells by followers ensures long-range coordination of movements and developmental robustness. Along with other "contact regulation of locomotion" behaviors, this mechanism contributes to organizing collective migration of loose populations of cells.

The myocardium utilizes a platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (Pdgfra)-phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling cascade to steer toward the midline during zebrafish heart tube formation

Coordinated cell movement is a fundamental process in organ formation. During heart development, bilateral myocardial precursors collectively move toward the midline (cardiac fusion) to form the primitive heart tube. Extrinsic influences such as the adjacent anterior endoderm are known to be required for cardiac fusion. We previously showed however, that the platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (Pdgfra) is also required for cardiac fusion (Bloomekatz et al., 2017). Nevertheless, an intrinsic mechanism that regulates myocardial movement has not been elucidated. Here, we show that the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) intracellular signaling pathway has an essential intrinsic role in the myocardium directing movement toward the midline. In vivo imaging further reveals midline-oriented dynamic myocardial membrane protrusions that become unpolarized in PI3K-inhibited zebrafish embryos where myocardial movements are misdirected and slower. Moreover, we find that PI3K activity is dependent on and interacts with Pdgfra to regulate myocardial movement. Together our findings reveal an intrinsic myocardial steering mechanism that responds to extrinsic cues during the initiation of cardiac development.

Expect the unexpected: conventional and unconventional roles for cadherins in collective cell migration

Migrating cell collectives navigate complex tissue environments both during normal development and in pathological contexts such as tumor invasion and metastasis. To do this, cells in collectives must stay together but also communicate information across the group. The cadherin superfamily of proteins mediates junctional adhesions between cells, but also serve many essential functions in collective cell migration. Besides keeping migrating cell collectives cohesive, cadherins help follower cells maintain their attachment to leader cells, transfer information about front-rear polarity among the cohort, sense and respond to changes in the tissue environment, and promote intracellular signaling, in addition to other cellular behaviors. In this review, we highlight recent studies that reveal diverse but critical roles for both classical and atypical cadherins in collective cell migration, specifically focusing on four in vivo model systems in development: the Drosophila border cells, zebrafish mesendodermal cells, Drosophila follicle rotation, and Xenopus neural crest cells.

Optogenetic control of Wnt signaling models cell-intrinsic embryogenic patterning using 2D human pluripotent stem cell culture

In embryonic stem cell (ESC) models for early development, spatially and temporally varying patterns of signaling and cell types emerge spontaneously. However, mechanistic insight into this dynamic self-organization is limited by a lack of methods for spatiotemporal control of signaling, and the relevance of signal dynamics and cell-to-cell variability to pattern emergence remains unknown. Here, we combine optogenetic stimulation, imaging and transcriptomic approaches to study self-organization of human ESCs (hESC) in two-dimensional (2D) culture. Morphogen dynamics were controlled via optogenetic activation of canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling (optoWnt), which drove broad transcriptional changes and mesendoderm differentiation at high efficiency (>99% cells). When activated within cell subpopulations, optoWnt induced cell self-organization into distinct epithelial and mesenchymal domains, mediated by changes in cell migration, an epithelial to mesenchymal-like transition and TGFβ signaling. Furthermore, we demonstrate that such optogenetic control of cell subpopulations can be used to uncover signaling feedback mechanisms between neighboring cell types. These findings reveal that cell-to-cell variability in Wnt signaling is sufficient to generate tissue-scale patterning and establish a hESC model system for investigating feedback mechanisms relevant to early human embryogenesis.

A hydraulic feedback loop between mesendoderm cell migration and interstitial fluid relocalization promotes embryonic axis formation in zebrafish

Interstitial fluid (IF) accumulation between embryonic cells is thought to be important for embryo patterning and morphogenesis. Here, we identify a positive mechanical feedback loop between cell migration and IF relocalization and find that it promotes embryonic axis formation during zebrafish gastrulation. We show that anterior axial mesendoderm (prechordal plate [ppl]) cells, moving in between the yolk cell and deep cell tissue to extend the embryonic axis, compress the overlying deep cell layer, thereby causing IF to flow from the deep cell layer to the boundary between the yolk cell and the deep cell layer, directly ahead of the advancing ppl. This IF relocalization, in turn, facilitates ppl cell protrusion formation and migration by opening up the space into which the ppl moves and, thereby, the ability of the ppl to trigger IF relocalization by pushing against the overlying deep cell layer. Thus, embryonic axis formation relies on a hydraulic feedback loop between cell migration and IF relocalization.

Collective Behaviors of Active Matter Learning from Natural Taxes Across Scales

Taxis orientation is common in microorganisms, and it provides feasible strategies to operate active colloids as small-scale robots. Collective taxes involve numerous units that collectively perform taxis motion, whereby the collective cooperation between individuals enables the group to perform efficiently, adaptively, and robustly. Hence, analyzing and designing collectives is crucial for developing and advancing microswarm toward practical or clinical applications. In this review, natural taxis behaviors are categorized and synthetic microrobotic collectives are discussed as bio-inspired realizations, aiming at closing the gap between taxis strategies of living creatures and those of functional active microswarms. As collective behaviors emerge within a group, the global taxis to external stimuli guides the group to conduct overall tasks, whereas the local taxis between individuals induces synchronization and global patterns. By encoding the local orientations and programming the global stimuli, various paradigms can be introduced for coordinating and controlling such collective microrobots, from the viewpoints of fundamental science and practical applications. Therefore, by discussing the key points and difficulties associated with collective taxes of different paradigms, this review potentially offers insights into mimicking natural collective behaviors and constructing intelligent microrobotic systems for on-demand control and preassigned tasks.

Whole-Mount In Situ Hybridization for Detection of Migrating Zebrafish Endodermal Cells

One of the most important events in early vertebrate development is the formation and positioning of the endoderm, the embryonic progenitor cell population that gives rise to the internal organs. Recent years have seen renewed interest in the mechanisms underlying the specification and migration of endodermal progenitor cells. The zebrafish is a well-established, accessible, and powerful model to study this cell population. Zebrafish endodermal cells are specified around 4 h after fertilization and subsequently migrate as evenly spaced single cells in a stereotypical manner in the next 6 h. Given the large numbers of fertilized eggs that can be obtained from a single breeding pair and the ease of chemical and genetic perturbations, the zebrafish is an excellent model to study mechanisms underlying endoderm specification and migration. An easy approach to visualizing and quantitating endodermal cells and their migratory routes is by whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) on fixed embryos, collected in time series. This chapter provides basic information on the organization and staging of the embryos, with an emphasis on the migrating endodermal cell population. In addition, optimized protocols for the isolation and fixation of staged embryos are provided as well as detailed probe synthesis and WISH protocols, specific for migrating endoderm. Finally, details are provided on how to approach these experiments quantitatively, and some common pitfalls are discussed.

The myocardium utilizes Pdgfra-PI3K signaling to steer towards the midline during heart tube formation

Coordinated cell movement is a fundamental process in organ formation. During heart development, bilateral myocardial precursors collectively move towards the midline (cardiac fusion) to form the primitive heart tube. Along with extrinsic influences such as the adjacent anterior endoderm which are known to be required for cardiac fusion, we previously showed that the platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (Pdgfra) is also required. However, an intrinsic mechanism that regulates myocardial movement remains to be elucidated. Here, we uncover an essential intrinsic role in the myocardium for the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) intracellular signaling pathway in directing myocardial movement towards the midline. In vivo imaging reveals that in PI3K-inhibited zebrafish embryos myocardial movements are misdirected and slower, while midline-oriented dynamic myocardial membrane protrusions become unpolarized. Moreover, PI3K activity is dependent on and genetically interacts with Pdgfra to regulate myocardial movement. Together our findings reveal an intrinsic myocardial steering mechanism that responds to extrinsic cues during the initiation of cardiac development.

Paracrine HB-EGF signaling reduce enhanced contractile and energetic state of activated decidual fibroblasts by rebalancing SRF-MRTF-TCF transcriptional axis

Multiple parallels exist between placentation and cancer dissemination at molecular, cellular, and anatomical levels, presenting placentation as a unique model to mechanistically understand the onset of cancer metastasis. In humans, interaction of placenta and the endometrium results eventually in deep invasion of placental extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs) into the maternal stroma, a process similar to stromal trespass by disseminating carcinoma cells. In anticipation of implantation, endometrial fibroblasts (ESFs) undergo a process called decidualization during the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle. Decidualization, among other substantial changes associated with ESF differentiation, also involves a component of fibroblast activation, and myofibroblast transformation. Here, using traction force microscopy, we show that increased cellular contractility in decidualized ESFs is reversed after interaction with EVTs. We also report here the large changes in energetic state of ESFs upon decidualization, showing increased oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial competency and ATP generation, as well as enhanced aerobic glycolysis, presenting mechanical contractility and energetic state as new functional hallmarks for decidualization. These energetic changes accompanying the marked increase in contractile force generation in decidualization were reduced in the presence of EVTs. We also show that increase in decidual contractility and mechanical resistance to invasion is achieved by SRF-MRTF transcriptional activation, achieved via increased phosphorylation of fibroblast-specific myosin light chain 9 (MYL9). EVT induced paracrine secretion of Heparin Binding Epidermal Growth Factor (HBEGF), a potent MAPK activator, which shifts the balance of SRF association away from MRTF based transcription, reducing decidual ESF contractility and mechanical resistance to placental invasion. Our results identify a new axis of intercellular communication in the placental bed modulating stromal force generation and resistance to invasion with concurrent downregulation of cellular energetics. These findings have important implications for implantation related disorders, as well as stromal control of cancer dissemination.

Guidance by followers ensures long-range coordination of cell migration through α-catenin mechanoperception

Morphogenesis, wound healing, and some cancer metastases depend upon the migration of cell collectives that need to be guided to their destination as well as coordinated with other cell movements. During zebrafish gastrulation, the extension of the embryonic axis is led by the mesendodermal polster that migrates toward the animal pole, followed by the axial mesoderm that undergoes convergence and extension. Here, we investigate how polster cells are guided toward the animal pole. Using a combination of precise laser ablations, advanced transplants, and functional as well as in silico approaches, we establish that each polster cell is oriented by its immediate follower cells. Each cell perceives the migration of followers, through E-cadherin/α-catenin mechanotransduction, and aligns with them. Therefore, directional information propagates from cell to cell over the whole tissue. Such guidance of migrating cells by followers ensures long-range coordination of movements and developmental robustness.

Cellular protrusions in 3D: Orchestrating early mouse embryogenesis

Cellular protrusions generated by the actin cytoskeleton are central to the process of building the body of the embryo. Problems with cellular protrusions underlie human diseases and syndromes, including implantation defects and pregnancy loss, congenital birth defects, and cancer. Cells use protrusive activity together with actin-myosin contractility to create an ordered body shape of the embryo. Here, I review how actin-rich protrusions are used by two major morphological cell types, epithelial and mesenchymal cells, during collective cell migration to sculpt the mouse embryo body. Pre-gastrulation epithelial collective migration of the anterior visceral endoderm is essential for establishing the anterior-posterior body axis. Gastrulation mesenchymal collective migration of the mesoderm wings is crucial for body elongation, and somite and heart formation. Analysis of mouse mutants with disrupted cellular protrusions revealed the key role of protrusions in embryonic morphogenesis and embryo survival. Recent technical approaches have allowed examination of the mechanisms that control cell and tissue movements in vivo in the complex 3D microenvironment of living mouse embryos. Advancing our understanding of protrusion-driven morphogenesis should provide novel insights into human developmental disorders and cancer metastasis.

Shifting the focus of zebrafish toward a model of the tumor microenvironment

Cancer cells exist in a complex ecosystem with numerous other cell types in the tumor microenvironment (TME). The composition of this tumor/TME ecosystem will vary at each anatomic site and affects phenotypes such as initiation, metastasis, and drug resistance. A mechanistic understanding of the large number of cell-cell interactions between tumor and TME requires models that allow us to both characterize as well as genetically perturb this complexity. Zebrafish are a model system optimized for this problem, because of the large number of existing cell-type-specific drivers that can label nearly any cell in the TME. These include stromal cells, immune cells, and tissue resident normal cells. These cell-type-specific promoters/enhancers can be used to drive fluorophores to facilitate imaging and also CRISPR cassettes to facilitate perturbations. A major advantage of the zebrafish is the ease by which large numbers of TME cell types can be studied at once, within the same animal. While these features make the zebrafish well suited to investigate the TME, the model has important limitations, which we also discuss. In this review, we describe the existing toolset for studying the TME using zebrafish models of cancer and highlight unique biological insights that can be gained by leveraging this powerful resource.

Collective cell migration driven by filopodia-New insights from the social behavior of myotubes

Collective migration is a key process that is critical during development, as well as in physiological and pathophysiological processes including tissue repair, wound healing and cancer. Studies in genetic model organisms have made important contributions to our current understanding of the mechanisms that shape cells into different tissues during morphogenesis. Recent advances in high-resolution and live-cell-imaging techniques provided new insights into the social behavior of cells based on careful visual observations within the context of a living tissue. In this review, we will compare Drosophila testis nascent myotube migration with established in vivo model systems, elucidate similarities, new features and principles in collective cell migration.

Cell migration guided by long-lived spatial memory

Living cells actively migrate in their environment to perform key biological functions-from unicellular organisms looking for food to single cells such as fibroblasts, leukocytes or cancer cells that can shape, patrol or invade tissues. Cell migration results from complex intracellular processes that enable cell self-propulsion, and has been shown to also integrate various chemical or physical extracellular signals. While it is established that cells can modify their environment by depositing biochemical signals or mechanically remodelling the extracellular matrix, the impact of such self-induced environmental perturbations on cell trajectories at various scales remains unexplored. Here, we show that cells can retrieve their path: by confining motile cells on 1D and 2D micropatterned surfaces, we demonstrate that they leave long-lived physicochemical footprints along their way, which determine their future path. On this basis, we argue that cell trajectories belong to the general class of self-interacting random walks, and show that self-interactions can rule large scale exploration by inducing long-lived ageing, subdiffusion and anomalous first-passage statistics. Altogether, our joint experimental and theoretical approach points to a generic coupling between motile cells and their environment, which endows cells with a spatial memory of their path and can dramatically change their space exploration.

Roles of leader and follower cells in collective cell migration

Collective cell migration is a widely observed phenomenon during animal development, tissue repair, and cancer metastasis. Considering its broad involvement in biological processes, it is essential to understand the basics behind the collective movement. Based on the topology of migrating populations, tissue-scale kinetics, called the “leader–follower” model, has been proposed for persistent directional collective movement. Extensive in vivo and in vitro studies reveal the characteristics of leader cells, as well as the special mechanisms leader cells employ for maintaining their positions in collective migration. However, follower cells have attracted increasing attention recently due to their important contributions to collective movement. In this Perspective, the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the “leader–follower” model is reviewed with a special focus on the force transmission and diverse roles of leaders and followers during collective cell movement.

Mechanical plasticity in collective cell migration

Collective cell migration is crucial to maintain epithelium integrity during developmental and repair processes. It requires a tight regulation of mechanical coordination between neighboring cells. This coordination embraces different features including mechanical self-propulsion of individual cells within cellular colonies and large-scale force transmission through cell-cell junctions. This review discusses how the plasticity of biomechanical interactions at cell-cell contacts could help cellular systems to perform coordinated motions and adapt to the properties of the external environment.

Constitutive activation of β-catenin in odontoblasts induces aberrant pulp calcification in mouse incisors

During dentin formation, odontoblast polarization ensures that odontoblasts directionally secrete dentin matrix protein, leading to tubular dentin formation; however, little is known about the major features and regulatory mechanisms of odontoblast polarization. In a study of epithelial cell polarization, β-catenin was shown to serve as a structural component of cadherin-based adherens junctions to initiate cell polarity. However, the role of β-catenin in odontoblast polarization has not been well investigated. In this study, we explored whether β-catenin participated in odontoblast polarization to regulate the secretion of mineralization proteins. We established Col1-CreErt2; β-catenin exon3fl/fl (CA-β-catenin) mice, which constitutively activate β-catenin in odontoblasts. CA-β-catenin mice exhibited disorganization and depolarization of incisor odontoblasts. Moreover, the incisor dentin was hypomineralized, and ectopic calcification was found in mouse incisor pulp. In addition, by constitutive activation of β-catenin, the expression levels of the core polarity molecule Cdc42 and its downstream polarity protein complex Par3-Par6-aPKC were decreased in the incisors of CA-β-catenin mice. These findings suggest that β-catenin plays an essential role in dentin formation by regulating odontoblast polarization.

Self-organized cell migration across scales - from single cell movement to tissue formation

Self-organization is a key feature of many biological and developmental processes, including cell migration. Although cell migration has traditionally been viewed as a biological response to extrinsic signals, advances within the past two decades have highlighted the importance of intrinsic self-organizing properties to direct cell migration on multiple scales. In this Review, we will explore self-organizing mechanisms that lay the foundation for both single and collective cell migration. Based on in vitro and in vivo examples, we will discuss theoretical concepts that underlie the persistent migration of single cells in the absence of directional guidance cues, and the formation of an autonomous cell collective that drives coordinated migration. Finally, we highlight the general implications of self-organizing principles guiding cell migration for biological and medical research.

The Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor Spint2 is required for cellular cohesion, coordinated cell migration and cell survival during zebrafish hatching gland development

We have previously shown that the Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor Spint1a, also named Hai1a, is required in the zebrafish embryonic epidermis to restrict the activity of the type II transmembrane serine protease (TTSP) Matriptase1a/St14a, thereby ensuring epidermal homeostasis. A closely related Kunitz-type inhibitor is Spint2/Hai2, which in mammals plays multiple developmental roles that are either redundant or non-redundant with those of Spint1. However, the molecular bases for these non-redundancies are not fully understood. Here, we study spint2 during zebrafish development. It is co-expressed with spint1a in multiple embryonic epithelia, including the outer/peridermal layer of the epidermis. However, unlike spint1a, spint2 expression is absent from the basal epidermal layer but present in hatching gland cells. Hatching gland cells derive from the mesendodermal prechordal plate, from where they undergo a thus far undescribed transit into, and coordinated sheet migration within, the interspace between the outer and basal layer of the epidermis to reach their final destination on the yolk sac. Hatching gland cells usually survive their degranulation that drives embryo hatching but die several days later. In spint2 mutants, cohesion among hatching gland cells and their collective intra-epidermal migration are disturbed, leading to a discontinuous organization of the gland. In addition, cells undergo precocious cell death before degranulation, so that embryos fail to hatch. Chimera analyses show that Spint2 is required in hatching gland cells, but not in the overlying periderm, their potential migration and adhesion substrate. Spint2 acts independently of all tested Matriptases, Prostasins and other described Spint1 and Spint2 mediators. However, it displays a tight genetic interaction with and acts at least partly via the cell-cell adhesion protein E-cadherin, promoting both hatching gland cell cohesiveness and survival, in line with formerly reported effects of E-cadherin during morphogenesis and cell death suppression. In contrast, no such genetic interaction was observed between Spint2 and the cell-cell adhesion molecule EpCAM, which instead interacts with Spint1a. Our data shed new light onto the mechanisms of hatching gland morphogenesis and hatching gland cell survival. In addition, they reveal developmental roles of Spint2 that are strikingly different from those of Spint1, most likely due to differences in the expression patterns and relevant target proteins.

Rho GTPases Signaling in Zebrafish Development and Disease

Cells encounter countless external cues and the specificity of their responses is translated through a myriad of tightly regulated intracellular signals. For this, Rho GTPases play a central role and transduce signals that contribute to fundamental cell dynamic and survival events. Here, we review our knowledge on how zebrafish helped us understand the role of some of these proteins in a multitude of in vivo cellular behaviors. Zebrafish studies offer a unique opportunity to explore the role and more specifically the spatial and temporal dynamic of Rho GTPases activities within a complex environment at a level of details unachievable in any other vertebrate organism.

Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity: emerging parallels between tissue morphogenesis and cancer metastasis

Many cells possess epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity (EMP), which allows them to shift reversibly between adherent, static and more detached, migratory states. These changes in cell behaviour are driven by the programmes of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET), both of which play vital roles during normal development and tissue homeostasis. However, the aberrant activation of these processes can also drive distinct stages of cancer progression, including tumour invasiveness, cell dissemination and metastatic colonization and outgrowth. This review examines emerging common themes underlying EMP during tissue morphogenesis and malignant progression, such as the context dependence of EMT transcription factors, a central role for partial EMTs and the nonlinear relationship between EMT and MET.

This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Contemporary morphogenesis'.

Rules of collective migration: from the wildebeest to the neural crest

Collective migration, the movement of groups in which individuals affect the behaviour of one another, occurs at practically every scale, from bacteria up to whole species' populations. Universal principles of collective movement can be applied at all levels. In this review, we will describe the rules governing collective motility, with a specific focus on the neural crest, an embryonic stem cell population that undergoes extensive collective migration during development. We will discuss how the underlying principles of individual cell behaviour, and those that emerge from a supracellular scale, can explain collective migration. This article is part of the theme issue 'Multi-scale analysis and modelling of collective migration in biological systems'.

Pcdh18a regulates endocytosis of E-cadherin during axial mesoderm development in zebrafish

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 fully understood how these processes act together in a coordinated way during notochord formation. The prechordal plate is an actively migrating cell population in the central mesoderm anterior to the trailing notochordal plate cells. We show that prechordal plate cells express Protocadherin 18a (Pcdh18a), a member of the cadherin superfamily. We find that Pcdh18a-mediated recycling of E-cadherin adhesion complexes transforms prechordal plate cells into a cohesive and fast migrating cell group. In turn, the prechordal plate 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 and extension of the posterior, axial cells. Indeed, a grafting experiment validated the prediction and local Pcdh18a expression induced an ectopic prechordal plate-like cell group migrating towards the animal pole. Our findings indicate that the Pcdh18a is important for prechordal plate formation, which influences the trailing mesodermal cell sheet by orchestrating the morphogenesis of the notochord.

Guidelines and definitions for research on epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) encompasses dynamic changes in cellular organization from epithelial to mesenchymal phenotypes, which leads to functional changes in cell migration and invasion. EMT occurs in a diverse range of physiological and pathological conditions and is driven by a conserved set of inducing signals, transcriptional regulators and downstream effectors. With over 5,700 publications indexed by Web of Science in 2019 alone, research on EMT is expanding rapidly. This growing interest warrants the need for a consensus among researchers when referring to and undertaking research on EMT. This Consensus Statement, mediated by ‘the EMT International Association’ (TEMTIA), is the outcome of a 2-year-long discussion among EMT researchers and aims to both clarify the nomenclature and provide definitions and guidelines for EMT research in future publications. We trust that these guidelines will help to reduce misunderstanding and misinterpretation of research data generated in various experimental models and to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration to identify and address key open questions in this research field. While recognizing the importance of maintaining diversity in experimental approaches and conceptual frameworks, we emphasize that lasting contributions of EMT research to increasing our understanding of developmental processes and combatting cancer and other diseases depend on the adoption of a unified terminology to describe EMT.

In this Consensus Statement, the authors (on behalf of the EMT International Association) propose guidelines to define epithelial–mesenchymal transition, its phenotypic plasticity and the associated multiple intermediate epithelial–mesenchymal cell states. Clarification of nomenclature and definitions will help reduce misinterpretation of research data generated in different experimental model systems and promote cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Dkk1 Controls Cell-Cell Interaction through Regulation of Non-nuclear β-Catenin Pools

Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) is a secreted Wnt antagonist with a well-established role in head induction during development. Numerous studies have emerged implicating Dkk1 in various malignancies and neurodegenerative diseases through an unknown mechanism. Using zebrafish gastrulation as a model for collective cell migration, we unveil such a mechanism, identifying a role for Dkk1 in control of cell connectivity and polarity in vivo, independent of its known function. We find that Dkk1 localizes to adhesion complexes at the plasma membrane and regions of concentrated actomyosin, suggesting a direct involvement in regulation of local cell adhesion. Our results show that Dkk1 represses cell polarization and integrity of cell-cell adhesion, independently of its impact on β-catenin protein degradation. Concurrently, Dkk1 prevents nuclear localization of β-catenin by restricting its distribution to a discrete submembrane pool. We propose that redistribution of cytosolic β-catenin by Dkk1 concomitantly drives repression of cell adhesion and inhibits β-catenin-dependent transcriptional output.

Maternally regulated gastrulation as a source of variation contributing to cavefish forebrain evolution

Sequential developmental events, starting from the moment of fertilization, are crucial for the acquisition of animal body plan. Subtle modifications in such early events are likely to have major impacts in later morphogenesis, bringing along morphological diversification. Here, comparing the blind cave and the surface morphotypes of Astyanax mexicanus fish, we found heterochronies during gastrulation that produce organizer and axial mesoderm tissues with different properties (including differences in the expression of dkk1b) that may have contributed to cavefish brain evolution. These variations observed during gastrulation depend fully on maternal factors. The developmental evolution of retinal morphogenesis and hypothalamic patterning are among those traits that retained significant maternal influence at larval stages. Transcriptomic analysis of fertilized eggs from both morphotypes and reciprocal F₁ hybrids showed a strong and specific maternal signature. Our work strongly suggests that maternal effect genes and developmental heterochronies that occur during gastrulation have impacted morphological brain change during cavefish evolution.

Collective cell migration: general themes and new paradigms

Collective cell migration plays essential roles in embryogenesis and also contributes to disease states. Recent years have seen immense progress in understanding mechanisms and overarching concepts of collective cell migration. Self-organization of moving groups emerges as an important common feature. This includes self-generating gradients, internal chemotaxis or mechanotaxis and contact-dependent polarization within migrating cell groups. Here, we will discuss these concepts and their applications to classical models of collective cell migration. Further, we discuss new models and paradigms of collective cell migration and elaborate on open questions and future challenges. Answering these questions will help to expand our appreciation of this exciting theme in developmental cell biology and contribute to the understanding of disease states.

The endoderm: a divergent cell lineage with many commonalities

The endoderm is a progenitor tissue that, in humans, gives rise to the majority of internal organs. Over the past few decades, genetic studies have identified many of the upstream signals specifying endoderm identity in different model systems, revealing them to be divergent from invertebrates to vertebrates. However, more recent studies of the cell behaviours driving endodermal morphogenesis have revealed a surprising number of shared features, including cells undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs), collective cell migration, and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transitions (METs). In this Review, we highlight how cross-organismal studies of endoderm morphogenesis provide a useful perspective that can move our understanding of this fascinating tissue forward.

Distinct mesoderm migration phenotypes in extra-embryonic and embryonic regions of the early mouse embryo

In mouse embryo gastrulation, epiblast cells delaminate at the primitive streak to form mesoderm and definitive endoderm, through an epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Mosaic expression of a membrane reporter in nascent mesoderm enabled recording cell shape and trajectory through live imaging. Upon leaving the streak, cells changed shape and extended protrusions of distinct size and abundance depending on the neighboring germ layer, as well as the region of the embryo. Embryonic trajectories were meandrous but directional, while extra-embryonic mesoderm cells showed little net displacement. Embryonic and extra-embryonic mesoderm transcriptomes highlighted distinct guidance, cytoskeleton, adhesion, and extracellular matrix signatures. Specifically, intermediate filaments were highly expressed in extra-embryonic mesoderm, while live imaging for F-actin showed abundance of actin filaments in embryonic mesoderm only. Accordingly, Rhoa or Rac1 conditional deletion in mesoderm inhibited embryonic, but not extra-embryonic mesoderm migration. Overall, this indicates separate cytoskeleton regulation coordinating the morphology and migration of mesoderm subpopulations.

Light-activated Frizzled7 reveals a permissive role of non-canonical wnt signaling in mesendoderm cell migration

Non-canonical Wnt signaling plays a central role for coordinated cell polarization and directed migration in metazoan development. While spatiotemporally restricted activation of non-canonical Wnt-signaling drives cell polarization in epithelial tissues, it remains unclear whether such instructive activity is also critical for directed mesenchymal cell migration. Here, we developed a light-activated version of the non-canonical Wnt receptor Frizzled 7 (Fz7) to analyze how restricted activation of non-canonical Wnt signaling affects directed anterior axial mesendoderm (prechordal plate, ppl) cell migration within the zebrafish gastrula. We found that Fz7 signaling is required for ppl cell protrusion formation and migration and that spatiotemporally restricted ectopic activation is capable of redirecting their migration. Finally, we show that uniform activation of Fz7 signaling in ppl cells fully rescues defective directed cell migration in fz7 mutant embryos. Together, our findings reveal that in contrast to the situation in epithelial cells, non-canonical Wnt signaling functions permissively rather than instructively in directed mesenchymal cell migration during gastrulation.

Increasing complexity: Mechanical guidance and feedback loops as a basis for self-organization in morphogenesis

The article is devoted to physical views on embryo development as a combination of structurally stable dynamics and symmetry-breaking events in the general process of self-organization. The first corresponds to the deterministic aspect of embryo development. The second type of processes is associated with sudden increase of variability in the periods of symmetry-breaking, which manifests unstable dynamics. The biological basis under these considerations includes chemokinetics (a system of inductors, repressors, and interaction with their next surrounding) and morphomechanics (i.e. mechanotransduction, mechanosensing, and related feedback loops). Although the latter research area is evolving rapidly, up to this time the role of mechanical properties of embryonic tissues and mechano-dependent processes in them are integrated in the general picture of embryo development to a lesser extent than biochemical signaling. For this reason, the present article is mostly devoted to experimental data on morphomechanics in the process of embryo development, also including analysis of its limitations and possible contradictions. The general system of feedback-loops and system dynamics delineated in this review is in large part a repetition of the views of Lev Beloussov, who was one of the founders of the whole areas of morphomechanics and morphodynamics, and to whose memory this article is dedicated.

Contribution of epithelial-mesenchymal transitions to organogenesis and cancer metastasis

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays crucial roles during development, and inappropriate activation of EMTs are associated with tumor progression and promoting metastasis. In recent years, increasing studies have identified developmental contexts where cells undergo an EMT and transition to a partial-state, downregulating just a subset of epithelial characteristics and increasing only some mesenchymal traits, such as invasive motility. In parallel, recent studies have shown that EMTs are rarely fully activated in tumor cells, generating a diverse array of transition states. As our appreciation of the full spectrum of intermediate phenotypes and the huge diversity in underlying mechanisms grows, cross-disciplinary collaborations investigating developmental-EMTs and cancer-EMTs will be fundamental in order to achieve a full mechanistic understanding of this complex cell process.

Emergence of collective propulsion through cell-cell adhesion

The mechanisms driving the collective movement of cells remain poorly understood. To contribute toward resolving this mystery, a model was formulated to theoretically explore the possible functions of polarized cell-cell adhesion in collective cell migration. The model consists of an amoeba cell with polarized cell-cell adhesion, which is controlled by positive feedback with cell motion. This model cell has no persistent propulsion and therefore exhibits a simple random walk when in isolation. However, at high density, these cells acquire collective propulsion and form ordered movement. This result suggests that cell-cell adhesion has a potential function, which induces collective propulsion with persistence.

Analysis of In Vivo Cell Migration in Mosaic Zebrafish Embryos

Being optically clear, the zebrafish embryo is a nice model system to analyze cell migration in vivo. This chapter describes a combination of injection and cell transplant procedures that allows creation of mosaic embryos, containing a few cells labeled differently from their neighbors. Rapid 5D confocal imaging of these embryos permits to simultaneously track and quantify the movement of large cell groups, as well as analyze the cellular or subcellular dynamics of transplanted cells during their migration. In addition, expression of a candidate gene can be modified in transplanted cells. Comparing behavior of these cells to control or neighboring cells allows determination of the role of the candidate gene in cell migration. We describe the procedure, focusing on one specific cell population during gastrulation, but it can easily be adapted to other cell populations and other migration events during early embryogenesis.

Mechanical and signaling roles for keratin intermediate filaments in the assembly and morphogenesis of Xenopus mesendoderm tissue at gastrulation

The coordination of individual cell behaviors is a crucial step in the assembly and morphogenesis of tissues. Xenopus mesendoderm cells migrate collectively along a fibronectin (FN) substrate at gastrulation, but how the adhesive and mechanical forces required for these movements are generated and transmitted is unclear. Traction force microscopy (TFM) was used to establish that traction stresses are limited primarily to leading edge cells in mesendoderm explants, and that these forces are balanced by intercellular stresses in follower rows. This is further reflected in the morphology of these cells, with broad lamellipodial protrusions, mature focal adhesions and a gradient of activated Rac1 evident at the leading edge, while small protrusions, rapid turnover of immature focal adhesions and lack of a Rac1 activity gradient characterize cells in following rows. Depletion of keratin (krt8) with antisense morpholinos results in high traction stresses in follower row cells, misdirected protrusions and the formation of actin stress fibers anchored in streak-like focal adhesions. We propose that maintenance of mechanical integrity in the mesendoderm by keratin intermediate filaments is required to balance stresses within the tissue to regulate collective cell movements.

Making Heads or Tails of It: Cell-Cell Adhesion in Cellular and Supracellular Polarity in Collective Migration

Collective cell migration is paramount to morphogenesis and contributes to the pathogenesis of cancer. To migrate directionally and reach their site of destination, migrating cells must distinguish a front and a rear. In addition to polarizing individually, cell-cell interactions in collectively migrating cells give rise to a higher order of polarity, which allows them to move as a supracellular unit. Rather than just conferring adhesion, emerging evidence indicates that cadherin-based adherens junctions intrinsically polarize the cluster and relay mechanical signals to establish both intracellular and supracellular polarity. In this review, we discuss the various functions of adherens junctions in polarity of migrating cohorts.

Regulation of cell polarity by cell adhesion receptors

The ability of cells to polarize is an intrinsic property of almost all cells and is required for the devlopment of most multicellular organisms. To develop cell polarity, cells integrate various signals derived from intrinsic as well as extrinsic sources. In the recent years, cell-cell adhesion receptors have turned out as important regulators of cellular polarization. By interacting with conserved cell polarity proteins, they regulate the recruitment of polarity complexes to specific sites of cell-cell adhesion. By initiating intracellular signaling cascades at those sites, they trigger their specific subcellular activation. Not surprisingly, cell-cell adhesion receptors regulate diverse aspects of cell polarity, including apico-basal polarity in epithelial and endothelial cells, front-to-rear polarity in collectively migrating cells, and planar cell polarity during organ development. Here, we review the recent developments highlighting the central roles of cell-cell adhesion molecules in the development of cell polarity.

Live tracking of moving samples in confocal microscopy for vertically grown roots

Roots navigate through soil integrating environmental signals to orient their growth. The Arabidopsis root is a widely used model for developmental, physiological and cell biological studies. Live imaging greatly aids these efforts, but the horizontal sample position and continuous root tip displacement present significant difficulties. Here, we develop a confocal microscope setup for vertical sample mounting and integrated directional illumination. We present TipTracker - a custom software for automatic tracking of diverse moving objects usable on various microscope setups. Combined, this enables observation of root tips growing along the natural gravity vector over prolonged periods of time, as well as the ability to induce rapid gravity or light stimulation. We also track migrating cells in the developing zebrafish embryo, demonstrating the utility of this system in the acquisition of high-resolution data sets of dynamic samples. We provide detailed descriptions of the tools enabling the easy implementation on other microscopes.

Friction forces position the neural anlage

During embryonic development, mechanical forces are essential for cellular rearrangements driving tissue morphogenesis. Here, we show that in the early zebrafish embryo, friction forces are generated at the interface between anterior axial mesoderm (prechordal plate, ppl) progenitors migrating towards the animal pole and neurectoderm progenitors moving in the opposite direction towards the vegetal pole of the embryo. These friction forces lead to global rearrangement of cells within the neurectoderm and determine the position of the neural anlage. Using a combination of experiments and simulations, we show that this process depends on hydrodynamic coupling between neurectoderm and ppl as a result of E-cadherin-mediated adhesion between those tissues. Our data thus establish the emergence of friction forces at the interface between moving tissues as a critical force-generating process shaping the embryo.

A common framework for EMT and collective cell migration

During development, cells often switch between static and migratory behaviours. Such transitions are fundamental events in development and are linked to harmful consequences in pathology. It has long been considered that epithelial cells either migrate collectively as epithelial cells, or undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and migrate as individual mesenchymal cells. Here, we assess what is currently known about in vivo cell migratory phenomena and hypothesise that such migratory behaviours do not fit into alternative and mutually exclusive categories. Rather, we propose that these categories can be viewed as the most extreme cases of a general continuum of morphological variety, with cells harbouring different degrees or combinations of epithelial and mesenchymal features and displaying an array of migratory behaviours.

αE-catenin-dependent mechanotransduction is essential for proper convergent extension in zebrafish

Cadherin complexes mediate cell-cell adhesion and are crucial for embryonic development. Besides their structural function, cadherin complexes also transduce tension across the junction-actomyosin axis into proportional biochemical responses. Central to this mechanotransduction is the stretching of the cadherin-F-actin-linker α-catenin, which opens its central domain for binding to effectors such as vinculin. Mechanical unfolding of α-catenin leads to force-dependent reinforcement of cadherin-based junctions as studied in cell culture. The importance of cadherin mechanotransduction for embryonic development has not been studied yet. Here we used TALEN-mediated gene disruption to perturb endogenous αE-catenin in zebrafish development. Zygotic α-catenin mutants fail to maintain their epithelial barrier, resulting in tissue rupturing. We then specifically disrupted mechanotransduction, while maintaining cadherin adhesion, by expressing an αE-catenin construct in which the mechanosensitive domain was perturbed. Expression of either wild-type or mechano-defective α-catenin fully rescues barrier function in α-catenin mutants; however, expression of mechano-defective α-catenin also induces convergence and extension defects. Specifically, the polarization of cadherin-dependent, lamellipodia-driven cell migration of the lateral mesoderm was lost. These results indicate that cadherin mechanotransduction is crucial for proper zebrafish morphogenesis, and uncover one of the essential processes affected by its perturbation.

Summary: Cadherin adhesions transduce tension across the junction-actomyosin axis into proportional biochemical responses via α-catenin. Here we show for the first time how this function of the cadherin complex is important during zebrafish morphogenesis.

Cadherin-2 Is Required Cell Autonomously for Collective Migration of Facial Branchiomotor Neurons

Collective migration depends on cell-cell interactions between neighbors that contribute to their overall directionality, yet the mechanisms that control the coordinated migration of neurons remains to be elucidated. During hindbrain development, facial branchiomotor neurons (FBMNs) undergo a stereotypic tangential caudal migration from their place of birth in rhombomere (r)4 to their final location in r6/7. FBMNs engage in collective cell migration that depends on neuron-to-neuron interactions to facilitate caudal directionality. Here, we demonstrate that Cadherin-2-mediated neuron-to-neuron adhesion is necessary for directional and collective migration of FBMNs. We generated stable transgenic zebrafish expressing dominant-negative Cadherin-2 (Cdh2ΔEC) driven by the islet1 promoter. Cell-autonomous inactivation of Cadherin-2 function led to non-directional migration of FBMNs and a defect in caudal tangential migration. Additionally, mosaic analysis revealed that Cdh2ΔEC-expressing FBMNs are not influenced to migrate caudally by neighboring wild-type FBMNs due to a defect in collective cell migration. Taken together, our data suggest that Cadherin-2 plays an essential cell-autonomous role in mediating the collective migration of FBMNs.

Collective cell migration in development

During embryonic development, tissues undergo major rearrangements that lead to germ layer positioning, patterning, and organ morphogenesis. Often these morphogenetic movements are accomplished by the coordinated and cooperative migration of the constituent cells, referred to as collective cell migration. The molecular and biomechanical mechanisms underlying collective migration of developing tissues have been investigated in a variety of models, including border cell migration, tracheal branching, blood vessel sprouting, and the migration of the lateral line primordium, neural crest cells, or head mesendoderm. Here we review recent advances in understanding collective migration in these developmental models, focusing on the interaction between cells and guidance cues presented by the microenvironment and on the role of cell–cell adhesion in mechanical and behavioral coupling of cells within the collective.