Force-mediated cellular anisotropy and plasticity dictate the elongation dynamics of embryos

Abstract

embryos. It was found that the gradual alignment of F-actins must be synchronized with the development of intracellular forces for the embryo to elongate, which is then further sustained by muscle contraction-triggered plastic deformation of cells. In addition, we showed that preestablished anisotropy is essential for the proper onset of the process while defects in the integrity or bundling kinetics of actin bundles result in abnormal embryo elongation, all in good agreement with experimental observations.

Topics & Concepts