TY - JOUR AB - Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) initiates regionalized transcription underlying distinct cellular identities. ZGA is dependent upon dynamic chromatin architecture sculpted by conserved DNA-binding proteins. However, the direct mechanistic link between the onset of ZGA and the tissue-specific transcription remains unclear. Here, we have addressed the involvement of chromatin organizer Satb2 in orchestrating both processes during zebrafish embryogenesis. Integrative analysis of transcriptome, genome-wide occupancy and chromatin accessibility reveals contrasting molecular activities of maternally deposited and zygotically synthesized Satb2. Maternal Satb2 prevents premature transcription of zygotic genes by influencing the interplay between the pluripotency factors. By contrast, zygotic Satb2 activates transcription of the same group of genes during neural crest development and organogenesis. Thus, our comparative analysis of maternal versus zygotic function of Satb2 underscores how these antithetical activities are temporally coordinated and functionally implemented highlighting the evolutionary implications of the biphasic and bimodal regulation of landmark developmental transitions by a single determinant. AU - Pradhan, Saurabh J. AU - Reddy, Puli Chandramouli AU - Smutny, Michael AU - Sharma, Ankita AU - Sako, Keisuke AU - Oak, Meghana S. AU - Shah, Rini AU - Pal, Mrinmoy AU - Deshpande, Ojas AU - Dsilva, Greg AU - Tang, Yin AU - Mishra, Rakesh AU - Deshpande, Girish AU - Giraldez, Antonio J. AU - Sonawane, Mahendra AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J AU - Galande, Sanjeev ID - 10202 IS - 1 JF - Nature Communications TI - Satb2 acts as a gatekeeper for major developmental transitions during early vertebrate embryogenesis VL - 12 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Non-canonical Wnt signaling plays a central role for coordinated cell polarization and directed migration in metazoan development. While spatiotemporally restricted activation of non-canonical Wnt-signaling drives cell polarization in epithelial tissues, it remains unclear whether such instructive activity is also critical for directed mesenchymal cell migration. Here, we developed a light-activated version of the non-canonical Wnt receptor Frizzled 7 (Fz7) to analyze how restricted activation of non-canonical Wnt signaling affects directed anterior axial mesendoderm (prechordal plate, ppl) cell migration within the zebrafish gastrula. We found that Fz7 signaling is required for ppl cell protrusion formation and migration and that spatiotemporally restricted ectopic activation is capable of redirecting their migration. Finally, we show that uniform activation of Fz7 signaling in ppl cells fully rescues defective directed cell migration in fz7 mutant embryos. Together, our findings reveal that in contrast to the situation in epithelial cells, non-canonical Wnt signaling functions permissively rather than instructively in directed mesenchymal cell migration during gastrulation. AU - Capek, Daniel AU - Smutny, Michael AU - Tichy, Alexandra Madelaine AU - Morri, Maurizio AU - Janovjak, Harald L AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 6025 JF - eLife TI - Light-activated Frizzled7 reveals a permissive role of non-canonical wnt signaling in mesendoderm cell migration VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR AB - During embryonic development, mechanical forces are essential for cellular rearrangements driving tissue morphogenesis. Here, we show that in the early zebrafish embryo, friction forces are generated at the interface between anterior axial mesoderm (prechordal plate, ppl) progenitors migrating towards the animal pole and neurectoderm progenitors moving in the opposite direction towards the vegetal pole of the embryo. These friction forces lead to global rearrangement of cells within the neurectoderm and determine the position of the neural anlage. Using a combination of experiments and simulations, we show that this process depends on hydrodynamic coupling between neurectoderm and ppl as a result of E-cadherin-mediated adhesion between those tissues. Our data thus establish the emergence of friction forces at the interface between moving tissues as a critical force-generating process shaping the embryo. AU - Smutny, Michael AU - Ákos, Zsuzsa AU - Grigolon, Silvia AU - Shamipour, Shayan AU - Ruprecht, Verena AU - Capek, Daniel AU - Behrndt, Martin AU - Papusheva, Ekaterina AU - Tada, Masazumi AU - Hof, Björn AU - Vicsek, Tamás AU - Salbreux, Guillaume AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 661 JF - Nature Cell Biology SN - 14657392 TI - Friction forces position the neural anlage VL - 19 ER - TY - JOUR AB - 3D amoeboid cell migration is central to many developmental and disease-related processes such as cancer metastasis. Here, we identify a unique prototypic amoeboid cell migration mode in early zebrafish embryos, termed stable-bleb migration. Stable-bleb cells display an invariant polarized balloon-like shape with exceptional migration speed and persistence. Progenitor cells can be reversibly transformed into stable-bleb cells irrespective of their primary fate and motile characteristics by increasing myosin II activity through biochemical or mechanical stimuli. Using a combination of theory and experiments, we show that, in stable-bleb cells, cortical contractility fluctuations trigger a stochastic switch into amoeboid motility, and a positive feedback between cortical flows and gradients in contractility maintains stable-bleb cell polarization. We further show that rearward cortical flows drive stable-bleb cell migration in various adhesive and non-adhesive environments, unraveling a highly versatile amoeboid migration phenotype. AU - Ruprecht, Verena AU - Wieser, Stefan AU - Callan Jones, Andrew AU - Smutny, Michael AU - Morita, Hitoshi AU - Sako, Keisuke AU - Barone, Vanessa AU - Ritsch Marte, Monika AU - Sixt, Michael K AU - Voituriez, Raphaël AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ID - 1537 IS - 4 JF - Cell TI - Cortical contractility triggers a stochastic switch to fast amoeboid cell motility VL - 160 ER - TY - CHAP AB - Mechanically coupled cells can generate forces driving cell and tissue morphogenesis during development. Visualization and measuring of these forces is of major importance to better understand the complexity of the biomechanic processes that shape cells and tissues. Here, we describe how UV laser ablation can be utilized to quantitatively assess mechanical tension in different tissues of the developing zebrafish and in cultures of primary germ layer progenitor cells ex vivo. AU - Smutny, Michael AU - Behrndt, Martin AU - Campinho, Pedro AU - Ruprecht, Verena AU - Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J ED - Nelson, Celeste ID - 6178 SN - 1064-3745 T2 - Tissue Morphogenesis TI - UV laser ablation to measure cell and tissue-generated forces in the zebrafish embryo in vivo and ex vivo VL - 1189 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The zonula adherens (ZA) of epithelial cells is a site of cell-cell adhesion where cellular forces are exerted and resisted. Increasing evidence indicates that E-cadherin adhesion molecules at the ZA serve to sense force applied on the junctions and coordinate cytoskeletal responses to those forces. Efforts to understand the role that cadherins play in mechanotransduction have been limited by the lack of assays to measure the impact of forces on the ZA. In this study we used 4D imaging of GFP-tagged E-cadherin to analyse the movement of the ZA. Junctions in confluent epithelial monolayers displayed prominent movements oriented orthogonal (perpendicular) to the ZA itself. Two components were identified in these movements: a relatively slow unidirectional (translational) component that could be readily fitted by least-squares regression analysis, upon which were superimposed more rapid oscillatory movements. Myosin IIB was a dominant factor responsible for driving the unilateral translational movements. In contrast, frequency spectrum analysis revealed that depletion of Myosin IIA increased the power of the oscillatory movements. This implies that Myosin IIA may serve to dampen oscillatory movements of the ZA. This extends our recent analysis of Myosin II at the ZA to demonstrate that Myosin IIA and Myosin IIB make distinct contributions to junctional movement at the ZA. AU - Smutny, Michael AU - Wu, Selwin AU - Gomez, Guillermo AU - Mangold, Sabine AU - Yap, Alpha AU - Hamilton, Nicholas ID - 3288 IS - 7 JF - PLoS One TI - Multicomponent analysis of junctional movements regulated by Myosin II isoforms at the epithelial zonula adherens VL - 6 ER -