C. elegans embryonic cells with plasma membranes in purple and myosin motors in yellow. The embryo has 26 cells at this stage, and two of the cells are about to become internalized, moving from the surface to the interior. CHRIS HIGGINS, UNC CHAPEL HILL AND LIANG GAO, JANELIA FARM
Cytoskeletal contractions during embryonic development occur long before there are any visible changes in cell shape, suggesting something other than actin and myosin contractions trigger the morphogenetic changes that result in the formation of multilayered embryos from single layers of cells, according to new research.
In a paper published today (February 9) in Science, a research team led by developmental biologist Bob Goldstein at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented evidence that the cellular changes that initiate the formation of germ layers are triggered by a novel molecular “clutch,” which anchors the continually contracting network of actomyosin in cells to contact points on neighboring cells.
“In the past couple of years, with the imaging and microscopy that’s being done, people are really ...
