Fibronectin distribution during somitogenesis in the chick embryo

Somite formation in vertebrates is a multi-stage process. From a relatively homogeneous rod of mesenchyme, the segmental plate, somites are formed in a repeating sequence. Cell-cell adhesion has been proposed as a causal factor in somitogenesis. This led to an analysis of fibronectin in the segmental plate with respect to the initiation of somitogenesis. The pattern of fibronectin distribution can be correlated with the initiation of somitogenesis in the anterior portion of the segmental plate. Fibronectin distribution was determined using a high resolution antibody localization technique. Differences in fibronectin distribution were verified with computer-assisted image analysis. The evidence presented supports the hypothesis that an increase in cell-cell adhesion is a significant factor in the initiation of somitogenesis.     

The chick embryo: a leading model in somitogenesis studies

The vertebrate body is built on a metameric organization which consists of a repetition of functionally equivalent units, each comprising a vertebra, its associated muscles, peripheral nerves and blood vessels. This periodic pattern is established during embryogenesis by the somitogenesis process. Somites are generated in a rhythmic fashion from the presomitic mesoderm and they subsequently differentiate to give rise to the vertebrae and skeletal muscles of the body. Somitogenesis has been very actively studied in the chick embryo since the 19th century and many of the landmark experiments that led to our current understanding of the vertebrate segmentation process have been performed in this organism. Somite formation involves an oscillator, the segmentation clock whose periodic signal is converted into the periodic array of somite boundaries by a spacing mechanism relying on a traveling threshold of FGF signaling regressing in concert with body axis extension.     

Extracellular matrix fibrils and cell contacts in the chick embryo

Summary The migration of neural crest and sclerotome cells and the extension of ventral root axons in chick embryos at stages 16–20 were studied by light microscopy as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopy at the leg bud level of fixed specimens. Extensive cellular movements take place in association with an extracellular matrix consisting of microfibrils. The neural crest and sclerotome cells migrate into the large matrix-filled extracellular space surrounding the neural tube and notochord, apparently using microfibril bundles as substratum. The cells exhibit pseudopodia which are closely associated with the matrix fibrils. The fibrils around the notochord show a spatial arrangement indicating that the sclerotome cells are contact-guided to their subsequent positions. Mutual cell contacts, including those established by cell processes, frequently show cytoplasmic electron dense plaques at adjacent membranes. These small plaque contacts might be correlated to contact inhibition of locomotion between the cells and participate in the guidance of cells. The growth cones of extending axons exhibit filopodia contacting both surrounding mesenchyme cells and extracellular fibrils. The orientation of the axons might thus be affected by contacts with cell surfaces as well as with extracellular material.Technical assistance was given by Mrs. Kerstin Ahlfors, Mrs. Charlotte Fällström, Mrs. Annika Kylberg and Mrs. Stine SöderströmSupported by grants from The Swedish Natural Science Research Council     

On the role of fibronectin during the compaction stage of somitogenesis in the chick embryo

During the early stages of somitogenesis in the chick embryo the presomitic cells in the segmental plate undergo compaction. The aggregation of segmental plate cells is stimulated by fibronectin. The stimulation of segmental plate cells to aggregate and undergo compaction can be effected in isolated segmental plate cells, in isolated segmental plates, and in intact embryos removed from the yolk. The fact that the segmental plate cells react with greater vigor to cellular fibronectin than to plasma fibronectin suggests a specific molecular mechanism in the initiation of somitogenesis.     

Cell coherence during production of the presomitic mesoderm and somitogenesis in the mouse embryo

In this study, we investigated (in the early mouse embryo) the clonal properties of precursor cells which contribute to the segmented myotome, a structure derived from the somites. We used the laacZ method of single cell-labelling to visualise clones born before segmentation and bilateralisation. We found that clones which contribute to several segments both unilateral and bilateral were regionalised along the mediolateral axis and that their mediolateral position was maintained in successive adjacent segments. Furthermore, clones contributed to all segments, from their most anterior to their most posterior borders. Therefore, it appears that mediolateral regionalisation of myotomal precursor cells is a property established before bilateralisation of the presomitic mesoderm and that coherent clonal growth accompanies cell dispersion along both the mediolateral and anteroposterior axes. These findings in the mouse correlate well with what is known in the chick, suggesting conservation of the mode of production and distribution of the cells of the presomitic mesoderm. However, in addition, we also found that the mediolateral contribution of a clone is already determined in the pool of self-renewing cells that produces the myotomal precursor cells and thus that this pool is itself regionalised. Finally, we found that bilateral clones exhibit symmetry in right and left sides in the embryo at all levels of the mediolateral axis of the myotome. All these properties indicate synchrony and symmetry of formation of the presomitic mesoderm on both sides of the embryo leading to formation of a static embryonic structure with few cell movements. We suggest that sequential production of groups of cells with an identical clonal origin for both sides of the embryo from a single pool of self-renewing cells, coupled with acquisition of static cell behaviour, could play a role in colinearity of expression of Hox genes and in the segmentation system of higher vertebrates.     

Activin disrupts somitogenesis in cultured chick embryos

The anatomical and cell biological aspects of somite formation in the chick embryo have been rather well studied. Molecular regulation of somitogenesis in vertebrates is just beginning to be understood. We have studied the effects of human recombinant activin on somitogenesis in gastrulating chick embryos cultured in vitro with a view to assessing the possible role of activin-related molecules in this phenomenon. Activin disrupted somitogenesis in treated embryos, resulting in the formation of abnormal, split or ectopic somites. Light microscopic examination indicated that the ability of activin to interfere with somitogenesis might be partly due to initiation of somite formation at ectopic sites. We show that these cells are indeed somitogenic by their expression of one of the earliest somite-specific marker genes, Pax3. Scanning electron microscopic examination of control and treated embryos revealed direct effects of activin on cell-cell interactions. Cells from treated embryos exhibited disrupted intercellular adhesion leading to large intercellular spaces, altered cell shapes and modification of cell surface protrusions. The effects of activin on somitogenesis appear to be specific, since the neural structures, which are generally more susceptible to chemical insults during gastrulation, were relatively less affected. The results clearly point to a role of activin-related molecules in somitogenesis in the chick embryo.     

Cell lineage restrictions in the chick embryo hindbrain.

During development of the chick embryo, early neuronal differentiation and axonogenesis in the hindbrain follow a segmented pattern in register with the segmented morphology of this region. Cell marking experiments have shown that the segments, or rhombomeres, are lineage-restriction units each constructing a defined piece of the hindbrain. This raises the interesting possibility that, as in the developing fly, metamerism is used to generate level-specific anatomical structures with great and reliable precision. In the hindbrain, as for many invertebrates, lineage ancestry may be important in the determination of cell fate. The segmentation seen in this body region could therefore reflect a similar condition once present in the ancestor common to vertebrates and invertebrates.     

Uncoupling segmentation and somitogenesis in the chick presomitic mesoderm

Little is known about the tissue interactions and the molecular signals implicated in the sequence of events leading to the subdivision of the somite into its rostral and caudal compartments. It has been demonstrated that rostrocaudal identity of the sclerotome is acquired at the presomitic (PSM) level. However, it is not known whether this compartment specification is fully determined in the PSM or whether it is dependent upon maintenance cues from the surrounding environment, as is the case for somite epithelialization. In this report, we address this issue by examining the expression profiles of C-Delta-1 and C-Notch-1, the avian homologues of mouse Delta-like1 (Delta1) and Notch1 which have been implicated in the specification of the somite rostrocaudal polarity in mouse. In chick, these genes are expressed in distinct but partially overlapping domains in the PSM and subsequently in the caudal regions of the somites. We have used an in vitro assay that consists of culturing PSM explants to examine the regulation of these genes in this tissue. We find that PSM explants cultured without overlying ectoderm continue to lay down stripes of C-Delta-1 expression, although epithelialization is blocked. These results suggest that somite rostrocaudal patterning is an autonomous property of the PSM. In addition, they demonstrate that segmentation is not necessarily coupled with the formation of somites. Dev. Genet. 23:77–85, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A traction-based mechanism for somitogenesis in the chick

Summary This paper suggests that chick somites form because presomitic cells exert tractional forces on one another. These forces derive from the increase in cell adhesion and density that occurs as N-CAM and N-cadherin are laid down by the motile cells of the presomitic mesoderm, well before the somites form. Harris et al. (1984) have shown that adhesive and motile cells in an appropriate environment in vitro can spontaneously form aggregates under the influence of the tractional forces that they exert. Presomitic mesodermal cells may behave similarly: as CAM production increases local adhesivity, the tractional forces between the cells should become sufficiently strong for groups of cells to segment off the mesenchyme as somites. The successive expression of CAMs down the presomitic mesoderm will thus lead to the formation of an anterior-posterior sequence of somites. This mechanism can explain several aspects of somitogenesis that models generating a repetitive pre-pattern through gating cohorts of cells find hard to explain: first, mesodermal segregation occurs among highly adherent cells; second, that multiple rows of somites can form in embryos cultured on highly adherent substrata; third, that stirred mesoderm will still form normal somites; and, fourth, how somite size can be altered in heat-shocked embryos and elsewhere. Suggestions are given as to how the mechanism may be tested and where else in the embryo it could apply.     

Adhesion molecules during somitogenesis in the avian embryo

In avian embryos, somites constitute the morphological unit of the metameric pattern. Somites are epithelia formed from a mesenchyme, the segmental plate, and are subsequently reorganized into dermatome, myotome, and sclerotome. In this study, we used somitogenesis as a basis to examine tissue remodeling during early vertebrate morphogenesis. Particular emphasis was put on the distribution and possible complementary roles of adhesion-promoting molecules, neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM), N-cadherin, fibronectin, and laminin. Both segmental plate and somitic cells exhibited in vitro calcium-dependent and calcium-independent systems of cell aggregation that could be inhibited respectively by anti-N-cadherin and anti-N-CAM antibodies. In vivo, the spatio-temporal expression of N-cadherin was closely associated with both the formation and local disruption of the somites. In contrast, changes in the prevalence of N-CAM did not strictly accompany the remodeling of the somitic epithelium into dermamyotome and sclerotome. It was also observed that fibronectin and laminin were reorganized secondarily in the extracellular spaces after CAM-mediated contacts were modulated. In an in vitro culture system of somites, N-cadherin was lost on individual cells released from somite explants and was reexpressed when these cells reached confluence and established intercellular contacts. In an assay of tissue dissociation in vitro, antibodies to N-cadherin or medium devoid of calcium strongly and reversibly dissociated explants of segmental plates and somites. Antibodies to N-CAM exhibited a smaller disrupting effect only on segmental plate explants. In contrast, antibodies to fibronectin and laminin did not perturb the cohesion of cells within the explants. These results emphasize the possible role of cell surface modulation of CAMs during the formation and remodeling of some transient embryonic epithelia. It is suggested that N-cadherin plays a major role in the control of tissue remodeling, a process in which N-CAM is also involved but to a lesser extent. The substratum adhesion molecules, fibronectin and laminin, do not appear to play a primary role in the regulation of these processes but may participate in cell positioning and in the stabilization of the epithelial structures.     

Cell contacts orient some cell division axes in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo

Cells of the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo divide in an invariant pattern. Here I show that the division axes of some early cells (EMS and E) are controlled by specific cell-cell contacts (EMS-P2 or E-P3 contact). Altering the orientation of contact between these cells alters the axis along which the mitotic spindle is established, and hence the orientation of cell division. Contact-dependent mitotic spindle orientation appears to work by establishing a site of the type described by Hyman and White (1987. J. Cell Biol. 105:2123-2135) in the cortex of the responding cell: one centrosome moves toward the site of cell-cell contact during centrosome rotation in both intact embryos and reoriented cell pairs. The effect is especially apparent when two donor cells are placed on one side of the responding cell: both centrosomes are "captured," pulling the nucleus to one side of the cell. No centrosome rotation occurs in the absence of cell-cell contact, nor in nocodazole-treated cell pairs. The results suggest that some of the cortical sites described by Hyman and White are established cell autonomously (in P1, P2, and P3), and some are established by cell-cell contact (in EMS and E). Additional evidence presented here suggests that in the EMS cell, contact-dependent spindle orientation ensures a cleavage plane that will partition developmental information, received by induction, to one of EMS's daughter cells.     

Cell proliferation during cicatrization of the integument in the 5 day chick embryo

A cell proliferation study during wound healing of the excised integument of the flank in 5-day chick embryos was performed by pulse labelling using a single isotope (tritiated thymidine). The embryos were operated according to the experimental protocol already published (Thevenet and Sengel, 1973; Thevenet, 1981). 20 microCi of 3H-thymidine were deposited on the integument of the right flank of unoperated (controls) and operated embryos fixed 1 (start control), 2, 12 and 24 h after the excision. Mean labelling index of the unoperated epidermis was 13.7% at 5 days and 21.5% at 6 days of incubation. 2 hours after the excision, labelling index of the operated epidermis increased, on average, to 175% with respect to the labelling index of the controls, in the proximal zones near the wound edges; in the distal zones, the labelling index was lower than that of the controls. The labelling index in the dermis was, on average, 23.4% at 5 days and 28.5% at 6 days of incubation. 2 hours after the excision, the labelling index of the operated dermis increased, on average, to 165% with respect to that of the controls; later it decreased again and remained slightly higher or slightly lower than that of the controls. The increase of the labelling index of the operated integument persisted for a maximum of 6 h after the excision.     

Glycosaminoglycans in early chick embryo

The developmental profile of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were examined by cellulose acetate electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography in the early chick embryo from late blastula (stage XIII+) to early somite developmental stages (stage HH7-9). Sulphated GAGs were present from the earliest stages. They were more abundant than the non-sulphated forms and showed stage-related changes. Chondroitin sulphate and especially dermatan sulphate appeared to be the predominant GAGs in embryos at stage XIII+. Dermatan sulphate was about three times as abundant as chondroitin sulphate at stage XII+. In contrast, embryos at the definitive streak stage (stage HH4) produced about twice as much chondroitin sulphate as dermatan sulphate. At the head process stage (stage HH5), the level of chondroitin sulphate was reduced and its relative content in the embryo was about the same as dermatan sulphate. Levels of dermatan sulphate were more than five times those of heparan sulphate from stage XIII through to stage HH5 and three times more at stage HH7-9. The 4- and 6- sulphation of chondroitin sulphate increased 14- and 10-fold respectively, from stage XIII+ to stage HH 7-9. The sulphation pattern of chondroitin sulphate had a delta(di)-4S:delta(di)-6S molar ratio ranging from 4 to 8:1 and a delta(di)-4S:delta(di)-OS molar ratio ranging from 9 to 16:1 and was developmentally regulated. Thus, chondroitin sulphate in the early chick embryo was sulphated predominately in the 4-position in all stages studied. The presence of both 4- and 6-sulphated disaccharides in chondroitin sulphate indicated that both 4 and 6 sulfotransferases were active in the early embryo. Hyaluronate and sulphated GAG content increased markedly at gastrulation when the first major cellular migrations and tissue interactions begin.     

Researches on the formation of axial organs in the chick embryo. X. Further investigations on the role of ecto- and endoderm in somitogenesis

In continuation of previous experiments, recent results concerning the determinism of somitogenesis are reported. By means of two experimental devices on explanted chick embryos the influence upon mesoderm segmentation of the early removal of ectoderm (neural plate)--before and during the formation of the first somite pairs--and removal of endo- and ectoderm after 36-40 hours of incubation was investigated. Up to date results attest that during the shaping of the first somites no essential epigenetic interrelations between overlying ectoderm (neural plate) and paraxial mesoderm are necessary for segmentation. Just before the onset of segmentation a labile determination seems to be present in the presumptive somitogenic mesoderm. As to the later role of endo- and ectoderm in segmentation, present results reveal a relative independence of the segmentation process. The absence of the above-mentioned layers does not prevent further segmentation but induces a progressive slowing down of the process.     

Researches on the formation of axial organs in the chick embryo. XI. Experimental investigations into the role of Hensen's node in somitogenesis

In order to obtain new data with respect to the role of the node area in somitogenesis and to its "individuality" and real regression, three experimental models were applied to 1-7 somite chick embryo 1) UV irradiation of the node area (in vitro); 2) subnodal transsection (in vitro and in ovo); 3) combination of the two interventions. The main results obtained were as follows: The UV irradiation of the node area in chick embryos of early somite stage (1-7 somites) prevents, by necrotizing the cell population of the irradiated zone, the further regression of the node. This result attests the existence of a real, distinct, node cell population and the real character of regression movement. The subnodal transsection of similar embryos of about 0.1-0.2 mm caudal of the node leads (as observed also by several other authors) to the development of a "tail", projecting into the hole formed after the intervention. The "tail" contains axial organs and results from an "autonomous" regression of the node area. The previous irradiation of the node area prevents the shaping of the "tail". In both experimental models, segmentation and somite differentiation is possible caudal of the stopped node area (with the development of median somite blocks) and on the edges of the hole, respectively. Thus the node seems not to be an absolute contributor--by its regression--to the determination (to the second morphogenetic "wave") of somitogenesis (Cooke and Zeeman, 1976; Bellairs, 1980). The arrest of the node area regression does not influence (during the developmental stages studied) the rate of somitogenesis in the anterior part of the segmental plate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)