Supracellular contraction at the rear of neural crest cell groups drives collective chemotaxis

Abstract

Supracellular cable drives collective cell movement Neural crest cells migrate far and wide through a vertebrate embryo during development. Shellard et al. used Xenopus and zebrafish embryos to study how these clumps of mesenchymal cells migrate (see the Perspective by Adameyko). Movement was powered by a supracellular actomyosin cable that contracted around the rear of the clump. Similar supracellular contractility at the front was inhibited by a chemotactic signal. The imbalance in forces caused cells to rearrange so that the whole clump would be propelled forward. Science , this issue p. 339 ; see also p. 290