This video shows the apical (outside-facing) side of epithelia cells that form confluent tissues where each cell is tightly glued to its neighbors by circumferential junctions like bands of velcro. These cells show that the cell surface is extremely dynamic, blistering and boiling with small surface protrusions, filled with actin. This video also shows these protrusions in parts of three neighboring cells, and the circumferential actin-filled ridges at the cell margins are particularly dramatic. The actin used in these protrusions is the same pool used by deep cells for individual migration, and these enveloping (EVL) cells use the same kinds of biochemical controls for polymerization (rapid growth) and depolymerization (shrinkage) of filaments.
Visualizations taken from intact embryos, injected with GFP-actin plasmid at 1-cell stage. Filmed during gastrulation.
Spatial Axis | Image Size | Pixel Size |
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X | 324px | —— |
Y | 240px | —— |