Cyclic stretching combined with cell-cell adhesion is sufficient for inducing cell intercalation.

ABSTRACT: Although the important role of cell intercalation within a collective has long been recognized particularly for morphogenesis, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here we investigate the possibility that cellular responses to cyclic stretching play a major role in this process. By applying synchronized imaging and cyclic stretching to epithelial cells cultured on micropatterned polyacrylamide (PAA) substrates, we discovered that uniaxial cyclic stretching induces cell intercalation along with cell shape change and cell-cell interfacial remodeling. The process involved intermediate steps as previously reported for cell intercalation during embryonic morphogenesis, including the appearance of cell vertices, anisotropic vertex resolution, and directional expansion of cell-cell

SUBMITTER: Lien JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10432222 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature