A team of researchers at Kyoto University has revealed that the Dumpy protein, a component of extracellular matrices -- or ECM -- is the key factor in regulating the stereotypic origami-like folding of wing-cell sheets. "Our findings are unique because they unveil how external cues can create consistent 3D tissue structures," says first author Alice Tsuboi of KyotoU's Graduate School of Biostudies.

 

According to conventional views of morphogenesis, coordinated cell behaviors, like cell division and cell shape changes, are responsible for shaping cell sheets and creating folds, such as mountain-valley patterns. Researchers may naturally assume that wing folding is controlled by these cell behaviors. "It turns out, however, that wing cells never divide during folding nor do they exhibit spatially distinct behaviors," adds Tsuboi.