The emergence of shapes is one of the most fascinating aspect of embryogenesis. It relies on precise orchestration, whereby cells adjust their geometry and coordinate their behaviour to sculpt future tissues. Magali Suzanne and her team, Tatiana Merle, Martine Cazales, Ronan Bouzignac et Amsha Proag (MCD-CBI), her collaborators Thomas Mangeat, Brice Ronsin, Christian Rouvière (LITC-CBI) and Eve Pitot (IPBS), show how pressure exerted by neighbouring tissues guides the formation of folds in the leg of the Drosophila during development.
During embryonic development, in the course of morphogenesis, the Drosophila leg is formed from a cylinder-shaped tissue consisting of tightly packed epithelial cells. At the beginning of joint formation, this tissue folds to create the future segments of the leg. Previous work had shown that the programmed death of certain cells (called apoptosis) in the area of the future fold generates the mechanical forces necessary for this curvature. However, not all cells react and only a subset will die. In this study, Magali Suzanne’s team investigated the influence of compression, i.e. the pressure exerted on the leg by neighbouring tissues, on fold formation and cell death triggering.
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