Maintenance of the Epithelial Barrier and Remodeling of Cell-Cell Junctions during Cytokinesis

• Published in: Current biology 2016-07, Vol.26 (14), p.1829-1842
• Main Authors: Higashi, Tomohito, Arnold, Torey R., Stephenson, Rachel E., Dinshaw, Kayla M., Miller, Ann L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adherens junctions; Adherens Junctions - metabolism; Animals; contractile rings; Cytokinesis; Embryo, Nonmammalian; epithelial barrier function; Epithelium - embryology; Epithelium - growth & development; Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching; FRAP; Tight Junction Proteins - metabolism; tight junctions; Tight Junctions - metabolism; tricellular tight junctions; Vinculin; Vinculin - metabolism; Xenopus laevis; Xenopus laevis - embryology; Xenopus laevis - growth & development; Xenopus laevis - physiology; Xenopus Proteins - metabolism
• ISSN: 0960-9822; 1879-0445
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.036

Epithelial integrity and barrier function must be maintained during the complex cell shape changes that occur during cytokinesis in vertebrate epithelial tissue. Here, we investigate how adherens junctions and bicellular and tricellular tight junctions are maintained and remodeled during cell division in the Xenopus laevis embryo. We find that epithelial barrier function is not disrupted during cytokinesis and is mediated by sustained tight junctions. Using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), we demonstrate that adherens junction proteins are stabilized at the cleavage furrow by increased tension. We find that Vinculin is recruited to the adherens junction at the cleavage furrow, and that inhibiting recruitment of Vinculin by expressing a dominant-negative mutant increases the rate of furrow ingression. Furthermore, we show that cells neighboring the cleavage plane are pulled between the daughter cells, making a new interface between neighbors, and two new tricellular tight junctions flank the midbody following cytokinesis. Our data provide new insight into how epithelial integrity and barrier function are maintained throughout cytokinesis in vertebrate epithelial tissue. [Display omitted] •Tight junctions and barrier function are maintained during cytokinesis•Adherens junctions are maintained and reinforced at cleavage furrow by vinculin•After cytokinesis, two nascent tricellular tight junctions flank the midbody•New interface initially forms between neighbor cells, not daughter cells Using live imaging of Xenopus laevis gastrula embryos, Higashi et al. characterize how epithelial cells maintain tight and adherens junctions during cytokinesis and how new tricellular tight junctions form after division, demonstrating that cell-cell junctions at the cleavage furrow are stabilized and reinforced in a vinculin-dependent manner.