Optogenetic Control of Apical Constriction Induces Synthetic Morphogenesis in Mammalian Tissues

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2022 Sep 14

PMID 36104355

Authors

Guillermo Martinez-Ara

Nuria Taberner

Mami Takayama

Elissavet Sandaltzopoulou

Casandra E Villava

Miquel Bosch-Padros

Nozomu Takata

Xavier Trepat

Mototsugu Eiraku

Miki Ebisuya

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The emerging field of synthetic developmental biology proposes bottom-up approaches to examine the contribution of each cellular process to complex morphogenesis. However, the shortage of tools to manipulate three-dimensional (3D) shapes of mammalian tissues hinders the progress of the field. Here we report the development of OptoShroom3, an optogenetic tool that achieves fast spatiotemporal control of apical constriction in mammalian epithelia. Activation of OptoShroom3 through illumination in an epithelial Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell sheet reduces the apical surface of the stimulated cells and causes displacements in the adjacent regions. Light-induced apical constriction provokes the folding of epithelial cell colonies on soft gels. Its application to murine and human neural organoids leads to thickening of neuroepithelia, apical lumen reduction in optic vesicles, and flattening in neuroectodermal tissues. These results show that spatiotemporal control of apical constriction can trigger several types of 3D deformation depending on the initial tissue context.

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