Polarized E-cadherin endocytosis directs actomyosin remodeling during embryonic wound repair

Embryonic epithelia have a remarkable ability to rapidly repair wounds. A supracellular actomyosin cable around the wound coordinates cellular movements and promotes wound closure. Actomyosin cable formation is accompanied by junctional rearrangements at the wound margin. We used in vivo time-lapse quantitative microscopy to show that clathrin, dynamin, and the ADP-ribosylation factor 6, three components of the endocytic machinery, accumulate around wounds in Drosophila melanogaster embryos in a process that requires calcium signaling and actomyosin contractility. Blocking endocytosis with pharmacological or genetic approaches disrupted wound repair. The defect in wound closure was accompanied by impaired removal of E-cadherin from the wound edge and defective actomyosin cable assembly. E-cadherin overexpression also resulted in reduced actin accumulation around wounds and slower wound closure. Reducing E-cadherin levels in embryos in which endocytosis was blocked rescued actin localization to the wound margin. Our results demonstrate a central role for endocytosis in wound healing and indicate that polarized E-cadherin endocytosis is necessary for actomyosin remodeling during embryonic wound repair.This work was supported by a Connaught Fund New Investigator Award to R. Fernandez-Gonzalez and grants from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Dean’s New Staff Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (#30279), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant program (#418438-13) to R. Fernandez-Gonzalez