Microfilaments, cell shape changes, and morphogenesis of salivary epithelium

Abstract

The evidence supporting the idea that microfilament-mediated cell shape changes produce morphogenetic movements of the salivary epithelium is reviewed. The correlations between microfilaments and morphogenesis and microtubules and morphogenesis, as revealed by experiments with cytochalasin B and colchicine respectively, are compared and contrasted. On the basis of a correlation between microfilament integrity and epithelial morphogenesis, and an actin-like nature of microfilaments to bind heavy meromyosin, it is proposed that microfilament contraction is required for cleft formation in the epithelium. Several ways in which microfilament activity might be regulated during morphogenesis are discussed in the framework of experiments that may comment on such regulation. © 1973 by the American Society of Zoologists.