Fibronectin is a smart adhesive that both influences and responds to the mechanics of early spinal column development.

Emilie Guillon,Hannah Geller,Scott Holley,Abdel-Rahman Hassan,Dörthe Jülich,Dipjyoti Das

doi:10.7554/elife.48964

Abstract

An extracellular matrix of Fibronectin adheres the neural tube to the two flanking columns of paraxial mesoderm and is required for normal vertebrate development. Here, we find that the bilaterally symmetric interfaces between the zebrafish neural tube and paraxial mesoderm function as optimally engineered adhesive lap joints with rounded edges, graded Fibronectin 'adhesive' and an arced adhesive spew filet. Fibronectin is a 'smart adhesive' that remodels to the lateral edges of the neural tube-paraxial mesoderm interfaces where shear stress is highest. Fibronectin remodeling is mechanically responsive to contralateral variation morphogenesis, and Fibronectin-mediated inter-tissue adhesion is required for bilaterally symmetric morphogenesis of the paraxial mesoderm. Strikingly, however, perturbation of the Fibronectin matrix rescues the neural tube convergence defect of cadherin 2 mutants. Therefore, Fibronectin-mediated inter-tissue adhesion dynamically coordinates bilaterally symmetric morphogenesis of the vertebrate trunk but predisposes the neural tube to convergence defects that lead to spina bifida.

Highlights

The vertebrate central nervous system develops from the neural tube which is created via the complex morphogenic processes of convergence and closure of the neural ectoderm during neurulation
We measured the medial-lateral width of the neural tube on transverse sections every 20 mm along the anterior-posterior axis starting from the last somite boundary until the posterior end of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) (Figure 1—figure supplement 1)
We find that inter-tissue adhesion between the neural tube and left and right paraxial mesoderm ensures bilaterally symmetric morphogenesis

Summary

Introduction

The vertebrate central nervous system develops from the neural tube which is created via the complex morphogenic processes of convergence and closure of the neural ectoderm during neurulation. Varied tissue mechanics are exhibited during posterior mouse neural tube closure where a supracellular network of F-actin zippers the neural tube, creating spatially restricted zones of positive and negative strain within the tissue (Galea et al, 2017). Overall, these studies highlight the tissue level mechanics and inter-tissue interactions involved in neural tube morphogenesis

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