PUBLICATION
Defective neuroepithelial cell cohesion affects tangential branchiomotor neuron migration in the zebrafish neural tube
- Authors
- Stockinger, P., Maître, J.L., and Heisenberg, C.P.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-111019-17
- Date
- 2011
- Source
- Development (Cambridge, England) 138(21): 4673-4683 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp, Maître, Jean-Léon
- Keywords
- epithelial cohesion, hindbrain, neuronal migration, zebrafish
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Animals, Genetically Modified
- Cadherins/genetics
- Cadherins/metabolism
- Cell Fusion
- Cell Movement/physiology*
- Mice
- Morphogenesis/physiology
- Motor Neurons/cytology
- Motor Neurons/physiology*
- Neural Tube/cytology*
- Neural Tube/embryology*
- Neuroepithelial Cells/cytology
- Neuroepithelial Cells/physiology*
- Zebrafish/anatomy & histology*
- Zebrafish/embryology*
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
- PubMed
- 21965614 Full text @ Development
Citation
Stockinger, P., Maître, J.L., and Heisenberg, C.P. (2011) Defective neuroepithelial cell cohesion affects tangential branchiomotor neuron migration in the zebrafish neural tube. Development (Cambridge, England). 138(21):4673-4683.
Abstract
Facial branchiomotor neurons (FBMNs) in zebrafish and mouse embryonic hindbrain undergo a characteristic tangential migration
from rhombomere (r) 4, where they are born, to r6/7. Cohesion among neuroepithelial cells (NCs) has been suggested to function
in FBMN migration by inhibiting FBMNs positioned in the basal neuroepithelium such that they move apically between NCs towards
the midline of the neuroepithelium instead of tangentially along the basal side of the neuroepithelium towards r6/7. However,
direct experimental evaluation of this hypothesis is still lacking. Here, we have used a combination of biophysical cell adhesion
measurements and high-resolution time-lapse microscopy to determine the role of NC cohesion in FBMN migration. We show that
reducing NC cohesion by interfering with Cadherin 2 (Cdh2) activity results in FBMNs positioned at the basal side of the neuroepithelium
moving apically towards the neural tube midline instead of tangentially towards r6/7. In embryos with strongly reduced NC
cohesion, ectopic apical FBMN movement frequently results in fusion of the bilateral FBMN clusters over the apical midline
of the neural tube. By contrast, reducing cohesion among FBMNs by interfering with Contactin 2 (Cntn2) expression in these
cells has little effect on apical FBMN movement, but reduces the fusion of the bilateral FBMN clusters in embryos with strongly
diminished NC cohesion. These data provide direct experimental evidence that NC cohesion functions in tangential FBMN migration
by restricting their apical movement.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping