Contact-mediated cellular communication supplements positional information to regulate spatial patterning during development

TL;DR

This study reveals how local receptor-ligand interactions between neighboring cells, combined with global morphogen signals, regulate spatial patterning during development, enhancing understanding of cellular communication in embryogenesis.

Contribution

It demonstrates that contact-mediated signaling supplements morphogen-based positional information, providing a new perspective on spatial regulation in developmental processes.

Findings

Cell-cell contact influences gene expression thresholds.

Local interactions modulate response to global morphogen signals.

Supports experimental observations of neighborhood effects in development.

Abstract

Development in multi-cellular organisms is marked by a high degree of spatial organization of the cells attaining distinct fates in the embryo. We show that receptor-ligand interaction between cells in close physical proximity adaptively regulates the local process of selective gene expression in the presence of a global field set up by a diffusing morphogen that provides positional cues. This allows information from the cellular neighborhood to be incorporated into the emergent thresholds of morphogen concentration that dictate cell fate, consistent with recent experiments.