New Insights Into Cell Migration And Tissue Morphogenesis In Zebrafish

Using zebrafish embryos as a model system, researchers of the Max DelbrГјck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have gained new insights into the complex morphogenesis of epithelial cells during their development and migration. David Hava, Dr. Ulrike Forster and Dr. Salim Abdelilah-Seyfried studied the development of the lateral line organ in zebrafish, a sensory system found in fish and amphibians which serves to detect water flow and movements. Their findings show that two genes regulate cell organization within this epithelial tissue, which is found at different points along the fish body surface. Both genes also play a role in cancer development. (Journal of Cell Science, 10. February 10, 2009, doi: 10.1242/jcs.032102)*.


The study focused on the formation of cellular rosettes within an epithelial tissue and their separation from it. Normally, each cellular rosette gives rise to a neuromast, a sensor whose function it is to detect water flow movements. The researchers have described for the first time the cellular machinery that is needed to form these epithelial cell rosettes within a compact migratory tissue. Their research demonstrates that two genes have an important function in the formation of cellular rosettes: namely, to allow cells within the rosettes to adhere more strongly to each other than to the cells of the surrounding tissue. However, if one of the genes is lacking, the cells within the rosettes adhere to each other less strongly and the rosettes can no longer separate entirely from the surrounding tissue. As a consequence, fewer sensors develop.


Cell migration is not only significant for embryonic development but also in the development of cancer. Being a vertebrate, the tiny zebrafish shares many of the features of human systems which is why scientists use it as a model organism for studying vertebrate development and disease.



*Apical membrane maturation and cellular rosette formation during morphogenesis of the zebrafish lateral line


David Hava1*, Ulrike Forster1*, Miho Matsuda2, Shuang Cui3, Brian A. Link3, Jenny Eichhorst4, Burkhard Wiesner4, Ajay Chitnis2, and Salim Abdelilah-Seyfried1,#


1 Max DelbrГјck Center (MDC) for Molecular Medicine, D-13125 Berlin, Germany


2 Unit on Vertebrate Neural Development, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, NIH/NICHD, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA


3 Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509, USA


4 L eibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP), D-13125 Berlin, Germany
*both authors contributed equally


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Barbara Bachtler

Press and Public Affairs

Max DelbrГјck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch

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