UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

"Neighbourhood watch" model: embryonic epiblast cells assess positional information in relation to their neighbours

Lee, Hyung Chul; Hastings, Cato; Oliveira, Nidia MM; Pérez-Carrasco, Rubén; Page, Karen M; Wolpert, Lewis; Stern, Claudio D; (2022) "Neighbourhood watch" model: embryonic epiblast cells assess positional information in relation to their neighbours. Development 10.1242/dev.200295. (In press). Green open access

[thumbnail of Hastings_dev200295.pdf]
Preview
Text
Hastings_dev200295.pdf - Published Version

Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

In many developing and regenerating systems, tissue pattern is established through gradients of informative morphogens, but we know little about how cells interpret these. Using experimental manipulation of early chick embryos including misexpression of an inducer (VG1 or ACTIVIN) and an inhibitor (BMP4), we test two alternative models for their ability to explain how the site of primitive streak formation is positioned relative to the rest of the embryo. In one model, cells read morphogen concentrations cell-autonomously. In the other, cells sense changes in morphogen status relative to their neighbourhood. We find that only the latter model can account for the experimental results, including some counter-intuitive predictions. This mechanism (which we name “neighbourhood watch” model) illuminates the classic “French Flag Problem” and how positional information is interpreted by a sheet of cells in a large developing system.

Type: Article
Title: "Neighbourhood watch" model: embryonic epiblast cells assess positional information in relation to their neighbours
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1242/dev.200295
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.200295
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2022. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
Keywords: Cell communication, Chick embryo, Gastrulation, Morphogen, Polarity, Primitive streak
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10147788
Downloads since deposit
76Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item