Open Access‘Neighbourhood watch’ model: embryonic epiblast cells assess positional information in relation to their neighbours
Author(s) -
Hyung Chul Lee,
Cato Hastings,
Nidia M. M. Oliveira,
Rubén Pérez-Carrasco,
Karen M. Page,
Lewis Wolpert,
Claudio D. Stern
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.754
H-Index - 325
eISSN - 1477-9129
pISSN - 0950-1991
DOI - 10.1242/dev.200295
Subject(s) - biology , epiblast , primitive streak , morphogen , neighbourhood (mathematics) , embryonic stem cell , embryo , microbiology and biotechnology , embryogenesis , genetics , gastrulation , mathematical analysis , mathematics , gene
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.