Using migrating cells as probes to illuminate features in live embryonic tissues
Open Access
- 4 December 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science Advances
- Vol. 6 (49), eabc5546
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc5546
Abstract
The biophysical and biochemical properties of live tissues are important in the context of development and disease. Methods for evaluating these properties typically involve destroying the tissue or require specialized technology and complicated analyses. Here, we present a novel, noninvasive methodology for determining the spatial distribution of tissue features within embryos, making use of nondirectionally migrating cells and software we termed “Landscape,” which performs automatized high-throughput three-dimensional image registration. Using the live migrating cells as bioprobes, we identified structures within the zebrafish embryo that affect the distribution of the cells and studied one such structure constituting a physical barrier, which, in turn, influences amoeboid cell polarity. Overall, this work provides a unique approach for detecting tissue properties without interfering with animal’s development. In addition, Landscape allows for integrating data from multiple samples, providing detailed and reliable quantitative evaluation of variable biological phenotypes in different organisms.Funding Information
- European Molecular Biology Organization (ALTF306-2018)
- European Research Council (PolarizeMe, no 771201)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (RA863/11-1)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DI2205/2-1)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DI2205/3-1)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (MA6726/1)
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (05M16PMB (MED4D))
- CiM Cluster of Excellence (EXC 1003)
- CiM Cluster of Excellence (FF-2017-14)
- CiM Cluster of Excellence (PP-2016-10)
- European Union’s Horizon 2020 (777826)
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