Endocytosis is required for efficient apical constriction during Xenopus gastrulation.

ABSTRACT: Coordinated apical constriction (AC) in epithelial sheets drives tissue invagination [1, 2] and is required for diverse morphogenetic movements such as gastrulation [3], neurulation [4, 5], and organogenesis [6]. We showed previously that actomyosin contractility drives AC in Xenopus laevis bottle cells [7]; however, it remained unclear whether it does so in concert with other processes. Here we report that endocytosis-driven membrane remodeling is required for efficient AC. We found endosomes exclusively in bottle cells in the early gastrula. Disrupting endocytosis with dominant-negative dynamin or rab5 perturbed AC, with a significant decrease in constriction rate late in the process, suggesting that endocytosis operates downstream of actomyosin contractility to remove excess membrane. A

SUBMITTER: Lee JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3310928 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature