Tetraspanin Cd9b and Cxcl12a/Cxcr4b have a synergistic effect on the control of collective cell migration.

Katherine S Marsay, Sarah Greaves, Harsha Mahabaleshwar, Charmaine Min Ho, Henry Roehl, Peter N Monk, Tom J Carney, Lynda J Partridge

PloS one 2021

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Collective cell migration is essential for embryonic development and homeostatic processes. During zebrafish development, the posterior lateral line primordium (pLLP) navigates along the embryo flank by collective cell migration. The chemokine receptors, Cxcr4b and Cxcr7b, as well as their cognate ligand, Cxcl12a, are essential for this process. We corroborate that knockdown of the zebrafish cd9 tetraspanin orthologue, cd9b, results in mild pLL abnormalities. Through generation of CRISPR and TALEN mutants, we show that cd9a and cd9b function partially redundantly in pLLP migration, which is delayed in the cd9b single and cd9a; cd9b double mutants. This delay led to a transient reduction in neuromast numbers. Loss of both Cd9a and Cd9b sensitized embryos to reduced Cxcr4b and Cxcl12a levels. Together these results provide evidence that Cd9 modulates collective cell migration of the pLLP during zebrafish development. One interpretation of these observations is that Cd9 contributes to more effective chemokine signalling.

Citation

Katherine S Marsay, Sarah Greaves, Harsha Mahabaleshwar, Charmaine Min Ho, Henry Roehl, Peter N Monk, Tom J Carney, Lynda J Partridge. Tetraspanin Cd9b and Cxcl12a/Cxcr4b have a synergistic effect on the control of collective cell migration. PloS one. 2021;16(11):e0260372