---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '22608'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: For tissues to spread, they must deform while staying intact. How spreading
    tissues balance flexibility with integrity is not yet well understood. Here, we
    show that keratin intermediate filaments adapt tissue mechanical resilience to
    the stresses arising in epithelial tissues during spreading. By analyzing the
    expansion of the enveloping cell layer (EVL) over the yolk cell in zebrafish embryos
    in vivo, we find that keratin network maturation in EVL cells is promoted by stresses
    building up within the spreading tissue. Through genetic interference and tissue
    rheology experiments, complemented by a vertex model with mechanochemical feedback,
    we demonstrate that stress-induced keratin network maturation in the EVL increases
    tissue viscosity, to prevent tissue rupture. Further, keratins are required in
    the yolk cell for mechanosensitive actomyosin network contraction and flow, the
    forces pulling the EVL. These dual mechanosensitive functions of keratins enable
    a balance between pulling force production and EVL mechanical resilience, ensuring
    uniform and robust tissue spreading.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: Bio
- _id: ScienComp
- _id: LifeSc
- _id: EM-Fac
acknowledgement: We thank all members of the Heisenberg, Henkes, and Hannezo groups
  for their support. We are also grateful to the Imaging and Optics, Scientific Computing,
  Life Science Support, and Cryo-Electron Microscopy facilities at ISTA for their
  technical assistance and support. Numerical simulations were performed using the
  computational resources from Lorentz Institute and the Academic Leiden Interdisciplinary
  Cluster Environment (ALICE) provided by Leiden University, and from PMMH provided
  by Sorbonne Université. S.N has received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020
  research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 665385). This work was supported
  by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under projects PAT5044023 and W1250 awarded to
  C.-P.H.
article_number: '6499'
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Suyash
  full_name: Naik, Suyash
  id: 2C0B105C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Naik
  orcid: 0000-0001-8421-5508
- first_name: Yann-Edwin
  full_name: Keta, Yann-Edwin
  last_name: Keta
- first_name: Kornelija
  full_name: Pranjic-Ferscha, Kornelija
  id: 4362B3C2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Pranjic-Ferscha
- first_name: Edouard B
  full_name: Hannezo, Edouard B
  id: 3A9DB764-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Hannezo
  orcid: 0000-0001-6005-1561
- first_name: Silke
  full_name: Henkes, Silke
  last_name: Henkes
- first_name: Carl-Philipp J
  full_name: Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J
  id: 39427864-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Heisenberg
  orcid: 0000-0002-0912-4566
citation:
  ama: Naik S, Keta Y-E, Pranjic-Ferscha K, Hannezo EB, Henkes S, Heisenberg C-PJ.
    Keratins coordinate tissue spreading by balancing spreading forces with tissue
    material properties. <i>Nature Communications</i>. 2026;17. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z">10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z</a>
  apa: Naik, S., Keta, Y.-E., Pranjic-Ferscha, K., Hannezo, E. B., Henkes, S., &#38;
    Heisenberg, C.-P. J. (2026). Keratins coordinate tissue spreading by balancing
    spreading forces with tissue material properties. <i>Nature Communications</i>.
    Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z</a>
  chicago: Naik, Suyash, Yann-Edwin Keta, Kornelija Pranjic-Ferscha, Edouard B Hannezo,
    Silke Henkes, and Carl-Philipp J Heisenberg. “Keratins Coordinate Tissue Spreading
    by Balancing Spreading Forces with Tissue Material Properties.” <i>Nature Communications</i>.
    Springer Nature, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z</a>.
  ieee: S. Naik, Y.-E. Keta, K. Pranjic-Ferscha, E. B. Hannezo, S. Henkes, and C.-P.
    J. Heisenberg, “Keratins coordinate tissue spreading by balancing spreading forces
    with tissue material properties,” <i>Nature Communications</i>, vol. 17. Springer
    Nature, 2026.
  ista: Naik S, Keta Y-E, Pranjic-Ferscha K, Hannezo EB, Henkes S, Heisenberg C-PJ.
    2026. Keratins coordinate tissue spreading by balancing spreading forces with
    tissue material properties. Nature Communications. 17, 6499.
  mla: Naik, Suyash, et al. “Keratins Coordinate Tissue Spreading by Balancing Spreading
    Forces with Tissue Material Properties.” <i>Nature Communications</i>, vol. 17,
    6499, Springer Nature, 2026, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z">10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z</a>.
  short: S. Naik, Y.-E. Keta, K. Pranjic-Ferscha, E.B. Hannezo, S. Henkes, C.-P.J.
    Heisenberg, Nature Communications 17 (2026).
corr_author: '1'
das_tickbox: '1'
dataavailabilitystatement: "The authors declare that the minimum dataset that is necessary
  to\r\ninterpret, verify, and extend the research in this article is included in\r\nthe
  supplementary information, the source data, and the archived data\r\nrepository
  (https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-21137). This is also available\r\non GitHub at
  https://github.com/Suyash-Naik/2026-\r\nKeratinepithlialspreadingcoordinate-Data.
  Source data are provided\r\nwith this paper. The framework to develop the vertex
  models used in this paper are\r\navailable online on GitHub and archived in the
  source data provided.\r\nCustom scripts used for analysis of imaging and simulation
  data are\r\nprovided along with data files for all panels in the source data for
  this\r\nmanuscript on GitHub and in data repo (https://doi.org/10.15479/ATISTA-\r\n21137).
  Framework for the vertex model is available at https://\r\ngithub.com/yketta/cells.
  Code for analysis is available on GitHub\r\nhttps://github.com/Suyash-Naik/2026-\r\nKeratinepithlialspreadingcoordinate-Data."
date_created: 2026-07-29T09:10:35Z
date_published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-07-29T10:33:31Z
day: '17'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: Bio
- _id: CaHe
- _id: EdHa
doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '42143048'
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  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2026-07-29T10:27:25Z
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fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72366-z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        17'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '07'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 8f060199-16d5-11f0-9cad-f3253b266c46
  grant_number: PAT 5044023
  name: Keratins in epithelial tissue spreading
- _id: 252C3B08-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: FWF
  grant_number: W1250-B20
  name: Nano-Analytics of Cellular Systems
publication: Nature Communications
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 2041-1723
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
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  - id: '20465'
    relation: earlier_version
    status: public
researchdata_availability: yes
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: yes
title: Keratins coordinate tissue spreading by balancing spreading forces with tissue
  material properties
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 17
year: '2026'
...