Anisotropic regulation of lateral surface tension directs invagination in C. elegans gastrulation
- 1National Institute of Genetics
Abstract
Epithelial invagination is commonly attributed to actomyosin-driven apical constriction, but how the direction of tissue deformation is determined remains unclear. Here, we show that gastrulation in Caenorhabditis elegans involves anisotropic invagination, with preferential anterior-posterior convergence of neighboring cells. Laser ablation revealed no detectable directional bias in apical cortical recoil, suggesting that anisotropy in apical cortical tension is unlikely to be the primary determinant of the observed directional deformation. Instead, HMR-1/E-cadherin exhibited anisotropic accumulation preferentially at specific lateral cell-cell interfaces, where its enrichment is associated with junctional geometry consistent with reduced interfacial surface tension. Three-dimensional mechanical simulations showed that selectively reducing tension at these interfaces reproduces the observed anisotropic deformation and markedly enhances invagination, whereas uniform tension reduction does not. These findings reveal that spatially patterned lateral surface tension cooperates with apical constriction to control the direction and extent of invagination, uncovering a mechanical role for cell adhesion beyond force transmission.
Related
- Partial lesions of hypocretin neurons of the rat lateral hypothalamus affect wake and sleep regulation under increased sleep pressure
- Stop-Flow Lithography Using Hydrodynamic Flow Resistance Regulation and Hydraulic Compliance Minimization for Size-Tunable Anisotropic Multilayered Microparticles Fabrication
- Surface sensing and metabolic signals drive feedback regulation of long polar fimbriae in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157
- Requirements for swarming ability by lateral flagella on an agar surface in marine Vibrio cells
- Ectoderm tensile stress controls mesoderm internalization during embryo gastrulation
BibTeX
@misc{katayama2026anisotropic,
title = {{Anisotropic regulation of lateral surface tension directs invagination in C. elegans gastrulation}},
author = {T. Katayama and K. Yamamoto and T. Chiba and M. Imai and F. Motegi and A. Kimura},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.06.764797},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.06.764797v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Anisotropic regulation of lateral surface tension directs invagination in C. elegans gastrulation
AU - T. Katayama
AU - K. Yamamoto
AU - T. Chiba
AU - M. Imai
AU - F. Motegi
AU - A. Kimura
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.06.764797
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.06.764797v1
AB - Epithelial invagination is commonly attributed to actomyosin-driven apical constriction, but how the direction of tissue deformation is determined remains unclear. Here, we show that gastrulation in Caenorhabditis elegans involves anisotropic invagination, with preferential anterior-posterior convergence of neighboring cells. Laser ablation revealed no detectable directional bias in apical cortical recoil, suggesting that anisotropy in apical cortical tension is unlikely to be the primary determinant of the observed directional deformation. Instead, HMR-1/E-cadherin exhibited anisotropic accumulation preferentially at specific lateral cell-cell interfaces, where its enrichment is associated with junctional geometry consistent with reduced interfacial surface tension. Three-dimensional mechanical simulations showed that selectively reducing tension at these interfaces reproduces the observed anisotropic deformation and markedly enhances invagination, whereas uniform tension reduction does not. These findings reveal that spatially patterned lateral surface tension cooperates with apical constriction to control the direction and extent of invagination, uncovering a mechanical role for cell adhesion beyond force transmission.
ER -