Serotonin Signaling Regulates Actomyosin Contractility During Morphogenesis in Evolutionarily Divergent Lineages

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2023 Sep 8

PMID 37684231

Authors

Sanjay Karki

Mehdi Saadaoui

Valentin Dunsing

Stephen Kerridge

Elise Da Silva

Jean-Marc Philippe

Cedric Maurange

Thomas Lecuit

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that signals through 5-HT receptors to control key functions in the nervous system. Serotonin receptors are also ubiquitously expressed in various organs and have been detected in embryos of different organisms. Potential morphogenetic functions of serotonin signaling have been proposed based on pharmacological studies but a mechanistic understanding is still lacking. Here, we uncover a role of serotonin signaling in axis extension of Drosophila embryos by regulating Myosin II (MyoII) activation, cell contractility and cell intercalation. We find that serotonin and serotonin receptors 5HT2A and 5HT2B form a signaling module that quantitatively regulates the amplitude of planar polarized MyoII contractility specified by Toll receptors and the GPCR Cirl. Remarkably, serotonin signaling also regulates actomyosin contractility at cell junctions, cellular flows and epiblast morphogenesis during chicken gastrulation. This phylogenetically conserved mechanical function of serotonin signaling in regulating actomyosin contractility and tissue flow reveals an ancestral role in morphogenesis of multicellular organisms.

Citing Articles

Nuclear position controls the activity of cortical actomyosin networks powering simultaneous morphogenetic events.

Roby N, Rauzi M Nat Commun. 2025; 16(1):1587.

PMID: 39939308 PMC: 11822195. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56880-0.

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