马克斯·普朗克分子细胞生物学和遗传学研究所Pavel Tomancak研究组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们开发出模式化内陷防止原肠胚形成过程中的机械不稳定性成。该研究于2025年9月3日发表于国际一流学术期刊《自然》杂志上。

在这里，研究小组展示了果蝇胚胎进化上的一个新现象——被称为头沟的胚胎内陷模式——在果蝇原肠形成过程中具有机械作用。通过结合体内实验和计算机模拟，课题组研究人员证明了由于有丝分裂结构域的同时形成和胚带的延伸，胚胎的头干边界受到增加的压缩应力，而头沟抵消了这些应力，防止了原肠胚形成过程中的机械不稳定。

然后，通过比较有和没有头沟的物种的遗传模式，该课题组人员发现转录因子buttonhead的表达变化与头沟的进化有关。这些结果表明，头沟可能是通过响应双翅目原肠胚形成的机械挑战而形成的形态发生的遗传稳定而进化的。总之，他们的发现揭示了机械力如何影响早期发育中形态发生创新的进化的经验证据。

研究人员表示，在胚胎发育过程中，机械力对驱动和塑造组织形态发生至关重要。然而，人们对它们与发展演变的关系仍然知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Patterned invagination prevents mechanical instability during gastrulation

Author: Vellutini, Bruno C., Cuenca, Marina B., Krishna, Abhijeet, Szaapak, Alicja, Modes, Carl D., Tomancak, Pavel

Issue&Volume: 2025-09-03

Abstract: Mechanical forces are crucial for driving and shaping tissue morphogenesis during embryonic development1,2,3. However, their relevance for the evolution of development remains poorly understood4. Here we show that an evolutionary novelty of fly embryos—the patterned embryonic invagination known as the cephalic furrow5,6,7—has a mechanical role during Drosophila gastrulation. By integrating in vivo experiments and in silico simulations, we demonstrate that the head–trunk boundary of the embryo is under increased compressive stress due to the concurrent formation of mitotic domains and germ band extension and that the cephalic furrow counteracts these stresses, preventing mechanical instabilities during gastrulation. Then, by comparing the genetic patterning of species with and without the cephalic furrow, we find evidence that changes in the expression of the transcription factor buttonhead are associated with the evolution of the cephalic furrow. These results suggest that the cephalic furrow may have evolved through the genetic stabilization of morphogenesis in response to the mechanical challenges of dipteran gastrulation. Together, our findings uncover empirical evidence for how mechanical forces can influence the evolution of morphogenetic innovations in early development.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09480-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09480-3