Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

The Company of Biologists, Development, 2020

DOI: 10.1242/dev.186882

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Cell-fate plasticity, adhesion and cell sorting complementarily establish a sharp midbrain-hindbrain boundary

Journal article published in 2020 by Gokul Kesavan ORCID, Anja Machate, Stefan Hans, Michael Brand ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Orange circle
Published version: archiving restricted
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The formation and maintenance of sharp boundaries between groups of cells play a vital role during embryonic development as they serve to compartmentalize cells with similar fates. Some of these boundaries also act as organizers, with the ability to induce specific cell fates and morphogenesis in the surrounding cells. The midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) is such an organizer that also acts as a lineage restriction boundary to prevent the intermingling of cells with different developmental fates. However, the mechanisms underlying the lineage restriction process remain unclear. Here, using novel fluorescent knock-in reporters, live imaging, Cre/lox-mediated lineage tracing, atomic force microscopy-based cell adhesion assays, and mutant analysis, we analyze the process of lineage restriction at the MHB and provide mechanistic details. Specifically, we show that lineage restriction occurs by the end of gastrulation, and that the subsequent formation of sharp gene expression boundaries in the developing MHB occur through complementary mechanisms, namely cell-fate plasticity and cell sorting. Further, we show that cell sorting at the MHB involves differential adhesion among midbrain and hindbrain cells that is mediated by N-cadherin and Eph-Ephrin signaling.