NMII forms a contractile transcellular sarcomeric network to regulate apical cell junctions and tissue geometry.

ABSTRACT: Nonmuscle myosin II (NMII) is thought to be the master integrator of force within epithelial apical junctions, mediating epithelial tissue morphogenesis and tensional homeostasis. Mutations in NMII are associated with a number of diseases due to failures in cell-cell adhesion. However, the organization and the precise mechanism by which NMII generates and responds to tension along the intercellular junctional line are still not known. We discovered that periodic assemblies of bipolar NMII filaments interlace with perijunctional actin and α-actinin to form a continuous belt of muscle-like sarcomeric units (∼400-600 nm) around each epithelial cell. Remarkably, the sarcomeres of adjacent cells are precisely paired across the junctional line, forming an integrated, transcellular contractile ne

SUBMITTER: Ebrahim S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3658137 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature