Morphogenesis

The establishment of new tissue shapes (morpho = form; genesis = creation) during embryonic development is an essential but poorly understood event. Here, we focus on morphogenesis during eye formation.

The lens of the eye is a transparent, biconvex structure in the distal portion of the eye. Its biconvex form is critical for focusing light rays on the retina, the portion of the eye that is sensitive to light. That is, for the vision to be perfect, the shape of the lens must be perfect. How does the embryoshape the lens?

Embryologically, it originates from the ectoderm superimposed on the evaginated optic vesicle of the neural tube. With the evagination of the optic vesicle, it comes into close contact with the overlying ectoderm and defines the LENS PLACODE. Placode cells abandon their cubic form, increasing their length and reducing their apical area. Apical reduction is mediated by actin and myosin cytoskeleton constriction and results in tissue invagination to form the LENS VESICLE.

Watch the movie : Embryogenesis of the eye

During this period, the cells surrounding the placode (PERIPLACOIDAL CELLS) also actively move to follow the invagination of the lens vesicle. Our lab is interested in viewing this process. For this, we used live markers and 4D image capture in the confocal microscope (Live imaging).