Myosin-dependent remodeling of adherens junctions protects junctions from Snail-dependent disassembly.

ABSTRACT: Although Snail is essential for disassembly of adherens junctions during epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs), loss of adherens junctions in Drosophila melanogaster gastrula is delayed until mesoderm is internalized, despite the early expression of Snail in that primordium. By combining live imaging and quantitative image analysis, we track the behavior of E-cadherin-rich junction clusters, demonstrating that in the early stages of gastrulation most subapical clusters in mesoderm not only persist, but move apically and enhance in density and total intensity. All three phenomena depend on myosin II and are temporally correlated with the pulses of actomyosin accumulation that drive initial cell shape changes during gastrulation. When contractile myosin is absent, the normal Snail expres

SUBMITTER: Weng M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4738385 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature