Fat2 and Lar Define a Basally Localized Planar Signaling System Controlling Collective Cell Migration

Publication date: 13 March 2017
Source:Developmental Cell, Volume 40, Issue 5
Author(s): Kari Barlan, Maureen Cetera, Sally Horne-Badovinac
Collective migration of epithelial cells underlies diverse tissue-remodeling events, but the mechanisms that coordinate individual cell migratory behaviors for collective movement are largely unknown. Studying the Drosophila follicular epithelium, we show that the cadherin Fat2 and the receptor tyrosine phosphatase Lar function in a planar signaling system that coordinates leading and trailing edge dynamics between neighboring cells. Fat2 signals from each cell's trailing edge to induce leading edge protrusions in the cell behind, in part by stabilizing Lar's localization in these cells. Conversely, Lar signals from each cell's leading edge to stimulate trailing edge retraction in the cell ahead. Fat2/Lar signaling is similar to planar cell polarity signaling in terms of sub-cellular protein localization; however, Fat2/Lar signaling mediates short-range communication between neighboring cells instead of transmitting long-range information across a tissue. This work defines a key mechanism promoting epithelial migration and establishes a different paradigm for planar cell-cell signaling.

Teaser

Barlan and colleagues examine how the cadherin Fat2 and the receptor tyrosine phosphatase Lar promote epithelial migration in the context of the Drosophila egg chamber. They show that these proteins form the core of a planar signaling system that coordinates leading and trailing edge dynamics between neighboring cells.


http://ift.tt/2lWHOuY