Recent Highlights

Epithelial sheets maintain homeostasis through a range of mechanisms including cell rearrangement, extrusion, division, and intercalation. Working in collaboration with Dr. George Eisenhoffer’s group we developed a computational model of cell extrusion that recapitulates the biophysics of intrinsic and extrinsic contributors to extrusion.

S. Anjum, L. Turner, Y. Atieh, G. Eisenhoffer*, and L. A. Davidson* (2024). Assessing mechanical agency during apical apoptotic extrusion. iScience. 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111017. PMCID: PMC11539584. link

A recent review by Lance summarizing generic mechanisms that shape embryonic tissues.

L. A. Davidson (2024) Gears of life: A primer on the simple machines that shape the embryo. Current Topics in Developmental Biology. 160, 87-109. link

Endothelial cells respond to ligand BMP9/BMP10 by polarizing and migrating against blood flow. To investigate the interaction between ligand signaling and fluid flow Ya-Wen Cheng and collaborators from the Roman and Hinck labs applied microfluidics and automated imaging to simultaneously image cells exposed to multiple shear stresses and multiple concentrations of ligand.

Y.-W. Cheng, A. R. Anzell, S. A. Morosky, T. A. Schwartze, C. S. Hinck, A. P. Hinck, B. L. Roman*, and L. A. Davidson* (2024). Shear stress and sub-femtomolar levels of ligand synergize to activate ALK1 signaling in endothelial cells. Cells, 13(3), 285. PMID: 38334677, PMCID: PMC10854672. link

A review with Geneva Masak focused on the mechanisms that integrate morphogenetic processes shaping the tailbud with anatomy shaped during gastrulation.

G. Masak and L. A. Davidson (2023). Constructing the pharyngula: connecting the primary axis of the head with the posterior axis of the tail. Cells and Development. link

Migratory streams of the neural crest move throughout the embryo. Along their paths they use and modify adhesive substrates in the extracellular matrix. Duncan Martinson and collaborators at Oxford University and Stowers Institute developed an agent based model to explore the role these interactions play in shaping cohesion and dispersion of these streams.

D. Martinson, R. McLennan, J. M. Teddy, M. C. McKinney, L. A. Davidson, R. E. Baker, H. M. Byrne, P. M. Kulesa, P. K. Maini (2023). Dynamic fibronectin assembly and remodeling by leader neural crest cells prevents jamming in collective cell migration. eLife. link

Directed cell rearrangement in the neural ectoderm is patterned by the emergence of planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins in the early gastrula. PCP factors are dynamically positioned and redistributed within the apical junctional complex of the prospective neural epithelium. What guides these movements remains a mystery. The manuscript by Chih-Wen Chu suggests myosin II motors are key to those movements, but not as a motor cargo.

C.-W. Chu and L. A. Davidson (in revision). Myosin-dependent partitioning of junctional Prickle2 toward the anterior vertex during planar polarization of Xenopus neuroectoderm. BioRxiv. link

Three protocols for making various Xenopus explants. Unlike organoids, these explants preserve the structure of embryonic tissues and allow cells to be cultured in a near-native microenvironment.

Davidson, L.A. (2022). Microsurgical methods to isolate and culture the early gastrula dorsal marginal zone. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. link

Davidson, L.A. (2022). Microsurgical methods to make the Keller sandwich explant and the dorsal isolate. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. link

Davidson, L.A. (2022). Microsurgical Manipulations to Isolate Collectively Migrating Mesendoderm. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. link

See the accompanying Youtube Videos.

The gene Furry, a member of the planar cell polarity (PCP) complex, regulates gastrulation movements in Xenopus. Aileen Cervino from the Cirio group and collaborators at the Universidad de Buenos Aires characterized functional changes in cell behavior and morphogenesis defective in PCP signaling.

Cervino, A.S., Moretti, B., Stuckenholz, C., Grecco, H.E., Davidson, L.A., and Cirio, M.C. (2021). Furry is required for cell movements during gastrulation and functionally interacts with NDR1. Scientific reports 11, 1-17. link

C-Cadherin (Cdh3) regulates cell migration and contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) through Rac and does not involve or require the formation of cell-cell adhesions. Surprising global regulation of Rac activity by classical mutant forms of C-cadherin lacking the extracellular or intracellular domains. See the accompanying videos of Rac-FRET in migrating Xenopus mesendoderm cells.

Ichikawa, T., Stuckenholz, C., and Davidson, L.A. (2020). Non-junctional role of Cadherin3 in cell migration and contact inhibition of locomotion via domain-dependent, opposing regulation of Rac1. Sci Rep 10, 17326. link

For Additional Publications See: Google Scholar or PubMed.