Figure 5. The Rac1 GTPase CED-10 recruits WAVE and Arp2/3 at cell-cell contact and contributes to apical constriction.

(A) Micrographs from time-lapse movies depicting localization of WAVE and Arp2/3 in control and CED-10 RNAi-treated embryos from a lateral view. Scale bar: 5 μm. The diagrams underneath each micrograph highlight the observed Arp2/3 localization in E and neighboring cells. (B) Violin plots reporting changes in WAVE and Arp2/3 localization at Ep/P₄ contacts, cell-cell contacts, and the cytoplasm upon RNAi depletion of CED-10. (center dot, mean; vertical line, s.d.; outline, the distribution of the data; n = 11 embryos) (C) Micrographs from time-lapse DIC movies of wild-type and CED-10 RNAi-treated embryos with time on the left from MSa/p cell division. E lineage cells are outlined and pseudocolored in green. Gastrulation defects (E cells dividing before being fully covered by neighboring cells) are indicated with white arrowheads. (D) Bar graph summarizing gastrulation defects caused by ced-10 RNAi. P-values reported in Figures B were calculated using either an unpaired t-test or an unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction, depending on whether the variances between groups were equal. P values reported in Figure D were calculated with Fisher’s exact test. ( *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, ****p<0.0001)