Hoxb genes determine the timing of cell ingression by regulating cell surface fluctuations during zebrafish gastrulation
Moriyama Y, Mitsui T, Heisenberg C-PJ. 2025. Hoxb genes determine the timing of cell ingression by regulating cell surface fluctuations during zebrafish gastrulation. Development. 152(12), dev204261.
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Corresponding author has ISTA affiliation
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Abstract
During embryonic development, cell behaviors need to be tightly regulated in time and space. Yet how the temporal and spatial regulations of cell behaviors are interconnected during embryonic development remains elusive. To address this, we turned to zebrafish gastrulation, the process whereby dynamic cell behaviors generate the three principal germ layers of the early embryo. Here, we show that Hoxb cluster genes are expressed in a temporally collinear manner at the blastoderm margin, where mesodermal and endodermal (mesendoderm) progenitor cells are specified and ingress to form mesendoderm/hypoblast. Functional analysis shows that these Hoxb genes regulate the timing of cell ingression: under- or overexpression of Hoxb genes perturb the timing of mesendoderm cell ingression and, consequently, the positioning of these cells along the forming anterior-posterior body axis after gastrulation. Finally, we found that Hoxb genes control the timing of mesendoderm ingression by regulating cellular bleb formation and cell surface fluctuations in the ingressing cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that Hoxb genes interconnect the temporal and spatial pattern of cell behaviors during zebrafish gastrulation by controlling cell surface fluctuations.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2025-06-27
Journal Title
Development
Publisher
The Company of Biologists
Acknowledgement
We thank all the Heisenberg lab members for discussions and comments on the manuscript, and the Bioimaging and Life Science facilities of ISTA for support with microscopy and fish maintenance, respectively. This study was funded by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Overseas Research Fellowship and a Japan Science and Technology Agency PRESTO grant (JPMJPR214B) to Y.M. Open Access funding provided by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. Deposited in PMC for immediate release.
Volume
152
Issue
12
Article Number
dev204261
ISSN
eISSN
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Cite this
Moriyama Y, Mitsui T, Heisenberg C-PJ. Hoxb genes determine the timing of cell ingression by regulating cell surface fluctuations during zebrafish gastrulation. Development. 2025;152(12). doi:10.1242/dev.204261
Moriyama, Y., Mitsui, T., & Heisenberg, C.-P. J. (2025). Hoxb genes determine the timing of cell ingression by regulating cell surface fluctuations during zebrafish gastrulation. Development. The Company of Biologists. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204261
Moriyama, Yuuta, Toshiyuki Mitsui, and Carl-Philipp J Heisenberg. “Hoxb Genes Determine the Timing of Cell Ingression by Regulating Cell Surface Fluctuations during Zebrafish Gastrulation.” Development. The Company of Biologists, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204261.
Y. Moriyama, T. Mitsui, and C.-P. J. Heisenberg, “Hoxb genes determine the timing of cell ingression by regulating cell surface fluctuations during zebrafish gastrulation,” Development, vol. 152, no. 12. The Company of Biologists, 2025.
Moriyama Y, Mitsui T, Heisenberg C-PJ. 2025. Hoxb genes determine the timing of cell ingression by regulating cell surface fluctuations during zebrafish gastrulation. Development. 152(12), dev204261.
Moriyama, Yuuta, et al. “Hoxb Genes Determine the Timing of Cell Ingression by Regulating Cell Surface Fluctuations during Zebrafish Gastrulation.” Development, vol. 152, no. 12, dev204261, The Company of Biologists, 2025, doi:10.1242/dev.204261.
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