Abstract：
During vertebrate embryogenesis, tissues interact and influence each other\'s development to shape an embryo. While communication by molecular components has been extensively explored, the role of mechanical interaction between tissues during embryogenesis is just starting to be revealed. Addressing mechanical involvement in morphogenesis has traditionally been challenging mainly due to the lack of proper tools to measure and modify mechanical environments of cells in vivo. We have recently used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to show that the migration of the Xenopus laevis cephalic neural crest cells is triggered by stiffening of the mesoderm, a tissue that neural crest cells use as a migratory substrate in vivo. Interestingly we showed that the activity of the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is required to mediate this novel mechanical interaction between two tissues. In this chapter, we share the toolbox that we developed to study the role of PCP signaling in mesoderm cell accumulation and stiffening (in vivo) as well as the impact of mesoderm stiffness in promoting neural crest cell polarity and migration (ex vivo). We believe that these tools can be of general use for investigators interested in addressing the role of mechanical inputs in vivo and ex vivo.
摘要：
在脊椎动物胚胎发生期间，组织相互作用并影响彼此的发育以形成胚胎。虽然分子成分的交流已经得到了广泛的探索，在胚胎发生过程中，组织之间的机械相互作用的作用才刚刚开始被揭示。解决形态发生中的机械参与传统上具有挑战性，主要是由于缺乏适当的工具来测量和修改体内细胞的机械环境。我们最近使用原子力显微镜（AFM）显示非洲爪的头神经c细胞的迁移是由中胚层的硬化触发的，神经c细胞在体内用作迁移底物的组织。有趣的是，我们发现平面细胞极性（PCP）途径的活性是介导两种组织之间这种新型机械相互作用所必需的。在这一章中,我们分享了我们开发的工具箱，以研究PCP信号传导在中胚层细胞积累和硬化（体内）中的作用，以及中胚层硬度在促进神经c细胞极性和迁移（离体）中的影响。我们认为，这些工具对于有兴趣解决体内和离体机械输入的作用的研究人员可以普遍使用。
