Nagoya University study shows molecular and mechanical mechanisms of cell adhesion surface switching

The bodies of living organisms are formed by the repeated and orderly deformation of tissues. Looking at tissue deformation at the level of individual cells, it can be decomposed into changes in the number, shape, and arrangement of cells. Of these, changes in the relative position of cells due to recombination of cell adhesion surfaces are called cell rearrangement. Cell rearrangement proceeds in three stages: contraction, switching, and elongation of the cell adhesion surface. It is known that the contraction and elongation of the cell adhesion surface is driven by the force generated by myosin , but the mechanism of cell adhesion surface switching has remained a mystery.
This time, Keisuke Igawa, assistant professor at the Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Tokai National University Organization (at the time of research: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo), Associate Professor Kaoru Sugimura, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo With the research group of Professor et al., we discovered a structure (rectangle-shaped myo-II cable: rsMC) where myosin detaches from the adherence junction when the cell adhesion surface is switched. clarified the molecular and mechanical mechanisms of In Drosophila wing epithelial cells, Jub/Ajuba, which is known to act as a linker molecule between adherence junctions and actin, prevents myosin from detaching from the cell adhesion surface at the early stage of cell rearrangement. In addition, tricellular junctions rsMCs are formed by attenuating Jub/Ajuba localization by the M6 ​​component of . Jub/Ajuba and M6 are mutually inhibitory, and both the mutual inhibitory balance and the physical properties of the myosin cable depend on the length of the cell adhesion surface. In this way, it was clarified that the coordination of geometry, mechanics, and signaling results in spontaneous cell-adhesion switching that accompanies contraction and elongation of cell-adhesion surfaces during cell rearrangement.
This study has clarified part of the mechanism of cell adhesion switching, which has been a black box for many years. The dynamics of intercellular adhesion are closely related to the maintenance of the body of living organisms, life events such as aging, and diseases such as cancer.