E-cadherin expression pattern during zebrafish embryonic epidermis development

María Florencia Sampedro,María Fernanda Izaguirre,Valeria Sigot

doi:10.12688/f1000research.15932.3

Abstract

Background: E-cadherin is the major adhesion receptor in epithelial adherens junctions (AJs). On established epidermis, E-cadherin performs fine-tuned cell-cell contact remodeling to maintain tissue integrity, which is characterized by modulation of cell shape, size and packing density. In zebrafish, the organization and distribution of E-cadherin in AJs during embryonic epidermis development remain scarcely described. Methods: Combining classical immunofluorescence, deconvolution microscopy and 3D-segmentation of AJs in epithelial cells, a quantitative approach was implemented to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of E-cadherin across zebrafish epidermis between 24 and 72 hpf. Results: increasing levels of E-cadh protein parallel higher cell density and the appearance of hexagonal cells in the enveloping layer (EVL) as well as the establishments of new cell-cell contacts in the epidermal basal layer (EBL), being significantly between 31 and 48 hpf . Conclusions: Increasing levels of E-cadherin in AJs correlates with extensive changes in cell morphology towards hexagonal packing during the epidermis morphogenesis.

Highlights

The skin is the largest organ of the body in direct contact with the environment
E-cadh was observed in adherens junctions (AJs) in enveloping layer (EVL) cells and weakly detected in epidermal basal layer (EBL) cells (Figure 1b–c)
To elucidate whether the increase could be due to the appearance of more cell-cell contacts per EVL area, cell density was estimated globally and for hexagonal cells, and expressed as cell packing indexes (Figure 4a, b). These results showed a significant increment in cell density in the EVL that was characterized by the establishment of hexagonal cell morphology from 24 to 72 hpf

Summary

Introduction

The skin is the largest organ of the body in direct contact with the environment. It has a complex structure, being constituted by many different tissues. E-cadherin performs fine-tuned cell-cell contact remodeling to maintain tissue integrity, which is characterized by modulation of cell shape, size and packing density. Methods: Combining classical immunofluorescence, deconvolution microscopy and 3D-segmentation of AJs in epithelial cells, a quantitative approach was implemented to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of E-cadherin across zebrafish epidermis between 24 and 72 hpf. Conclusions: Increasing levels of E-cadherin in AJs correlates with extensive changes in cell morphology towards hexagonal packing during the epidermis morphogenesis

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Discussion

Conclusion