Imaging of a mouse foetal cerebral wall embedded in collagen gel

Article information
Elasticity-based boosting of neuroepithelial nucleokinesis via indirect energy transfer from mother to daughter.
Shinoda T, Nagasaka A, Inoue Y, Higuchi R, Minami Y, Kato K, Suzuki M, Kondo T, Kawaue T, Saito K, Ueno N, Fukazawa Y, Nagayama M, Miura T, Adachi T, Miyata T.
PLoS Biol. 2018 Apr 20;16(4):e2004426. PMID: 29677184

Overview
For the formation of large brains such as the mammalian cerebral cortex, it is essential that neural progenitor cells (NPCs) are continuously and efficiently produced.

It has been shown that NPCs elongate while expanding the developing cerebral walls and they divide at the apical surface.

Furthermore, interkinetic nuclear migration (IKNM), a phenomenon where individual NPCs move their nuclei and cell body in a cell cycle dependent manner, has been reported (moving to the apical side in the G2 phase and the basal side in G1 phase).

However, how the migration of the nuclei / cell body in the G2 phase to the apical surface leads to passive migration towards the basal side of the nuclei / cell body of the initial G1 phase was unknown.

Therefore, the authors conducted in silico and in vitro experiments and discovered that F-actin and phosphorylated myosin light chains accumulate near the basal pole of the cell body during transition from the G2 to the M phases.

Moreover, abnormal basal bouncing of the nuclear / cell body of the M phase was observed when a myosin II inhibitor, blebbistatin, was added to mouse foetal cerebral wall slices cultured in collagen gel.

Also, the nuclei / cell body of daughter cells in the G1 phase departed significantly earlier than in the control group when mouse foetal brain slices embedded in collagen gel were subjected to compressive stimulation.

Given these findings, it was suggested that actomyosin-based contraction of the basal process causes lateral expansion by the M-phase cell’s soma and deformation of the subapical space, generating a restoring force that assists a daughter cell’s basalward nucleokinesis.

Highly transparent Native Collagen Acidic Solution carrying telopeptides

Product Name
– Native Collagen Acidic Solution 3 mg/mL (Cat. No.: IAC-30)
– Native Collagen Acidic Solution 5 mg/mL (Cat. No.: IAC-50)