Analysis of adhesive properties of embryonic cells during zebrafish gastrulation

脊椎动物的原肠形成是发育的第一个过程，当不同特性的细胞彼此分离并分类成不同的组织(胚层)时。在胚层的形成过程中，外胚层、中胚层和内胚层细胞之间的细胞黏附差异在胚层的形成和分离中起重要作用。然而，目前还没有明确的实验证据来定量描述生殖层细胞的不同黏附特性。因此，我们将使用原子力显微镜来确定形成胚层的单个细胞的粘附性。我们将测试这些细胞与不同黏附分子(如E-钙粘附素和纤维粘连蛋白)修饰的基质的黏附(细胞与基质的黏附)以及单个生殖层细胞之间的黏附(细胞与细胞的黏附)。我们希望从这些实验中获得的结果将为深入了解细胞黏附在脊椎动物原肠发育过程中胚层形成中的作用提供依据。

Gastrulation in vertebrates constitutes the first process in development when cells with different identities separate from each other and sort into distinct tissues (germ layers). Differential cell adhesion between cells of the forming germ layers – ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm – has been postulated to play an important role in germ layer formation and separation. However, there is no clear experimental evidence yet, which quantitatively describes the different adhesive properties of germ layer cells. We therefore will determine the adhesion of single cells from the forming germ layers by using atomic force microscopy. We will test both the adhesion of these cells to substrates decorated with different adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin and fibronectin (cell-substrate adhesion) and the adhesion of single germ layer cells to each other (cell-cell adhesion). We expect that the results obtained from these experiments will provide insight into the role of cell adhesion for germ layer formation during vertebrate gastrulation.