Dchs1–Fat4 regulation of polarized cell behaviours during skeletal morphogenesis

Yaopan Mao, Anna Kuta, Ivan Crespo-Enriquez, Danielle Whiting, Tina Martin, Joanna Mulvaney, Kenneth D. Irvine () and Philippa Francis-West ()
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Yaopan Mao: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey
Anna Kuta: King’s College London, Dental Institute
Ivan Crespo-Enriquez: King’s College London, Dental Institute
Danielle Whiting: King’s College London, Dental Institute
Tina Martin: King’s College London, Dental Institute
Joanna Mulvaney: King’s College London, Dental Institute
Kenneth D. Irvine: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey
Philippa Francis-West: King’s College London, Dental Institute

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Skeletal shape varies widely across species as adaptation to specialized modes of feeding and locomotion, but how skeletal shape is established is unknown. An example of extreme diversity in the shape of a skeletal structure can be seen in the sternum, which varies considerably across species. Here we show that the Dchs1–Fat4 planar cell polarity pathway controls cell orientation in the early skeletal condensation to define the shape and relative dimensions of the mouse sternum. These changes fit a model of cell intercalation along differential Dchs1–Fat4 activity that drives a simultaneous narrowing, thickening and elongation of the sternum. Our results identify the regulation of cellular polarity within the early pre-chondrogenic mesenchyme, when skeletal shape is established, and provide the first demonstration that Fat4 and Dchs1 establish polarized cell behaviour intrinsically within the mesenchyme. Our data also reveal the first indication that cell intercalation processes occur during ventral body wall elongation and closure.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11469

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