Molecular and cell biological basis of convergent extension

Abstract Collective cell movements termed convergent extension (CE) drive the elongation of tissues and organs in essentially all animals. In vertebrates, CE is controlled by the planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling system, and defects in PCP-dependent convergent extension are associated with human neural tube defects and skeletal dysplasias. We feel that the overall lack of clarity regarding upstream inputs that guide CE as it occurs in vertebrate animals represents the key challenge in the field at this time. Building on our recent successes with in vivo imaging, in vitro assays of mechanosensing, structure modeling, and genomics, this proposal takes a holistic approach to this problem, focusing on both mechanical and molecular inputs and how they direct the action of PCP proteins, actomyosin and cadherin adhesion during CE.