Apical constriction drives tissue-scale hydrodynamic flow to mediate cell elongation.

ABSTRACT: Epithelial folding mediated by apical constriction converts flat epithelial sheets into multilayered, complex tissue structures and is used throughout development in most animals. Little is known, however, about how forces produced near the apical surface of the tissue are transmitted within individual cells to generate the global changes in cell shape that characterize tissue deformation. Here we apply particle tracking velocimetry in gastrulating Drosophila embryos to measure the movement of cytoplasm and plasma membrane during ventral furrow formation. We find that cytoplasmic redistribution during the lengthening phase of ventral furrow formation can be precisely described by viscous flows that quantitatively match the predictions of hydrodynamics. Cell membranes move with the ambient

SUBMITTER: He B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4111109 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature