Abstract

The synchronisation of major morphogenetic events such as collective cell migration (CCM) has been recently shown to emerge from the mechanical interaction between tissues. Yet, whether interacting tissues balance their elastic properties and the molecular mechanism that mediates this process remains unclear. To address this, we explored the recently established mechanical interplay between neural crest (NCs), a mechanosensitive cell population and its migratory substrate, the mesoderm. Combining in vivo experiments with biophysical and theoretical approaches we revealed that NC and mesoderm tend to match their elastic properties over time leading to NCs fluidisation and CCM . Strikingly, NCs fluidisation is fine-tuned by microtubule acetylation via a novel mechanosensitive pathway involving Piezo1 regulation of the de-acetylase Hdac6. Overall, our data positions microtubule de-acetylation as a key mediator of the mechanomolecular feedback-loops that synchronise morphogenetic events.