Cell competition corrects noisy Wnt morphogen gradients to achieve robust patterning in the zebrafish embryo.

ABSTRACT: Morphogen signalling forms an activity gradient and instructs cell identities in a signalling strength-dependent manner to pattern developing tissues. However, developing tissues also undergo dynamic morphogenesis, which may produce cells with unfit morphogen signalling and consequent noisy morphogen gradients. Here we show that a cell competition-related system corrects such noisy morphogen gradients. Zebrafish imaging analyses of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling gradient, which acts as a morphogen to establish embryonic anterior-posterior patterning, identify that unfit cells with abnormal Wnt/β-catenin activity spontaneously appear and produce noise in the gradient. Communication between unfit and neighbouring fit cells via cadherin proteins stimulates apoptosis of the unfit cells by activa

SUBMITTER: Akieda Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6797755 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature