Our recent article ‘The Planar Polarity Component VANGL2 Is a Key Regulator of Mechanosignaling’ published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology has been selected to be featured in the collection “Editor’s Pick 2021: Highlights in Cell Adhesion and Migration”.
This article highlights a previously unknown function of the core planar cell polarity (PCP) protein, VANGL2, in control of mechanosignalling and we propose this underlies the key role of the PCP pathway in tissue morphogenesis and repair.
We employed a combination of live imaging of ex vivo 3D precision-cut lung slices, in vitro 2D cell culture and functional assays to show that disrupted epithelial cell migration in Vangl2Lp (Looptail) mutant mice was caused by underlying aberrant cell mechanics. Our findings were further consolidated by the use of sophisticated elastic micropillar arrays that demonstrated abnormal cellular traction force in epithelial cells from Looptail mutant mice (collaboration with Dr Armando del Río Hernández, ICL Department of Bioengineering).
Click the link below for more details about this study:
The full article can be found here 
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https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2020.577201/full