Multiple contact sites between cells and the vitelline envelope coordinate tissue flows in Drosophila gastrulation
- 1Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
Abstract
Gastrulation is thought to be driven primarily by forces generated within individual cells. These cell-intrinsic forces collectively induce tissue-scale flows and transform the monolayered embryo into a multilayered structure. However, as the embryo constitutes a mechanically closed system, these flows must be balanced by regions of resistance or anchoring to enable asymmetric morphogenesis. In the Drosophila embryo, integrin-mediated attachment of the blastoderm to the vitelline envelope has been shown to stabilize germ band extension at the organismal scale. Disrupting such an attachment leads to a characteristic twisting phenotype. Yet, how this attachment shapes concurrent global morphogenetic events remains unclear. We discovered that the integrin -subunit scab, which mediates the attachment, is expressed in three different regions of the cellular blastoderm near prominent invagination events. Through a combination of light-sheet imaging, genetic and mechanical perturbations, we demonstrate that integrin-enhanced friction is essential for unidirectional tissue flows in those regions, with effects including cephalic furrow positioning and epithelial stability. Guided by a minimal physical model, we further show that multiple attachment sites enhance the robustness and reproducibility of global tissue movements. Together, our results indicate that Drosophila gastrulation emerges from a balance between cell-intrinsic force generation and spatially distributed adhesion to the surrounding envelope, which together shape tissue flows at the embryo scale.
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BibTeX
@misc{cuenca2026multiple,
title = {{Multiple contact sites between cells and the vitelline envelope coordinate tissue flows in Drosophila gastrulation}},
author = {M. B. Cuenca and W. Y. Yau and G. Serafini and Y. Kim and C. D. Modes and P. Tomancak},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.64898/2026.07.30.741527},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.30.741527v2},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Multiple contact sites between cells and the vitelline envelope coordinate tissue flows in Drosophila gastrulation
AU - M. B. Cuenca
AU - W. Y. Yau
AU - G. Serafini
AU - Y. Kim
AU - C. D. Modes
AU - P. Tomancak
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/30
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.07.30.741527
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.30.741527v2
AB - Gastrulation is thought to be driven primarily by forces generated within individual cells. These cell-intrinsic forces collectively induce tissue-scale flows and transform the monolayered embryo into a multilayered structure. However, as the embryo constitutes a mechanically closed system, these flows must be balanced by regions of resistance or anchoring to enable asymmetric morphogenesis. In the Drosophila embryo, integrin-mediated attachment of the blastoderm to the vitelline envelope has been shown to stabilize germ band extension at the organismal scale. Disrupting such an attachment leads to a characteristic twisting phenotype. Yet, how this attachment shapes concurrent global morphogenetic events remains unclear. We discovered that the integrin -subunit scab, which mediates the attachment, is expressed in three different regions of the cellular blastoderm near prominent invagination events. Through a combination of light-sheet imaging, genetic and mechanical perturbations, we demonstrate that integrin-enhanced friction is essential for unidirectional tissue flows in those regions, with effects including cephalic furrow positioning and epithelial stability. Guided by a minimal physical model, we further show that multiple attachment sites enhance the robustness and reproducibility of global tissue movements. Together, our results indicate that Drosophila gastrulation emerges from a balance between cell-intrinsic force generation and spatially distributed adhesion to the surrounding envelope, which together shape tissue flows at the embryo scale.
ER -