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Methods for the Study of Apical Constriction During Ascidian Gastrulation

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Cell Polarity Signaling

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2438))

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Abstract

Gastrulation is the first major morphogenetic event during ascidian embryogenesis. Ascidian gastrulation begins with the invagination of the endodermal progenitors, a two-step process driven by individual cell shape changes of endoderm cells. During the first step, endoderm cells constrict apically, thereby flattening the vegetal side of the embryo. During the second step, endoderm cells shorten along their apicobasal axis and tissue invagination ensues. Individual cell shape changes are mediated by localized actomyosin contractile activity. Here, we describe methods used during ascidian endoderm apical constriction to study myosin activity and cellular morphodynamics with confocal and light sheet microscopy and followed by quantitative image analysis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the CNRS and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Dig-Em project, ANR-14-CE11-0013-01; Morphoscope2 Equipex, ANR-11-EQPX-0029). U.M.F. was supported by the Dig-Em project, by the FRM (SPF20120523969) and by the EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdoc Programme under Marie Curie Actions. P.L. is a CNRS senior staff scientist. We thank Carla Pérez (currently at EPFL, Lausanne) for sharing her Master internship results optimizing Phallusia mammillata salinity incubation conditions. We thank B. Balázs and O. Selchow for discussions.

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Author notes

  1. Ulla-Maj Fiúza

    Present address: Systems Bioengineering, DCEXS Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRBM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France

    Patrick Lemaire

Authors
  1. Ulla-Maj Fiúza
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  2. Patrick Lemaire
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ulla-Maj Fiúza or Patrick Lemaire .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Chenbei Chang

  2. Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Jianbo Wang

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Fiúza, UM., Lemaire, P. (2022). Methods for the Study of Apical Constriction During Ascidian Gastrulation. In: Chang, C., Wang, J. (eds) Cell Polarity Signaling. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2438. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2035-9_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2035-9_23

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2034-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2035-9

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