Morphogenesis is important throughout embryogenesis, but the mechanisms that underpin it are poorly understood. On p. 405, Richard Lang and co-workers partly remedy this situation by reporting that the expression of the actin-binding protein Shroom3 regulates apical constriction (AC; a cellular shape change from cylindrical to conical) during lens placode invagination in mice. Several types of epithelial cells undergo AC during embryonic development, and Shroom3 has previously been associated with AC during neural plate morphogenesis in mouse and frog embryos. Lang and colleagues now show that, during lens placode invagination, Shroom3 is required for the apical localisation of F-actin and myosin II, both of which are required for AC, and for the apical localisation of Vasp, another protein involved in actin dynamics. The researchers also show that Shroom3 expression is dependent on Pax6, a transcription factor that is required for lens placode induction. Together, these results provide new insights into the mechanisms of epithelial morphogenesis and reveal a link between lens induction and lens morphogenesis.

© 2010.
2010