Mechanisms of cell coordination in epithelial morphogenesis analyzed by quantitative 3D imaging

在胚胎发育和组织修复过程中，细胞移动了很长的距离，并且在形状上发生了巨大的变化，在这个过程中，它们推动、拉动并使它们的邻居变形。因此，当细胞移动或产生物理力时，需要高度的协调来保持组织的完整性。虽然参与力产生的主要分子是已知的，但细胞协调其行为的机制仍然是一个谜，主要是因为很难确定触发细胞共同行动的初始事件。值得注意的是，在许多不同物种的胚胎中，伤口愈合是由靠近伤口的细胞协调产生的力驱动的。在伤口愈合中，人们可以清晰地建立并随意传递诱导细胞协调（伤口）的信号，使其成为研究协调力产生机制的理想系统。

During embryonic development and tissue repair, cells move over long distances and undergo dramatic changes in shape, and in so doing, they push, pull and deform their neighbors. Therefore, an exquisite degree of coordination is necessary to preserve the integrity of tissues when cells move or generate physical forces. Although the main molecular players involved in force generation are known, the mechanisms by which cells coordinate their behaviors remain a mystery, mainly because it is difficult to establish the initial events that trigger cells to act together. Notably, wound healing in embryos of many different species is driven by the coordinated generation of force by the cells adjacent to the wound. In wound healing one can clearly establish and deliver at will the signal that induces cell coordination (the wound), making it an ideal system to investigate the mechanisms of coordinated force generation.