Figure 5.

Loss of Moesin induces apical cell perimeter constriction, but does not affect adherens junctions. (a–d) Staining of Moe in wt (a), crbRNAi (b) or in crb ^11A22 (c,d) pupal wing cells at 28–30 h APF. In crb ^11a22 the wt twin clone is labelled by GFP expression (blue), Moe staining is in green (c,d). (e–k) Pupal wings containing Δmoe clones at 28–30 h (e–j) or 32–34 h (k) APF stained for E-cad (green), F-actin (red) or Moe (blue). E-cad and F-actin staining revealed defects in cell perimeter (e,h) or apical F-actin redistribution (h). On the right of panels a-j, drawn orthogonal views of a wing epithelial cell where the focal plane positions of the confocal image projections in the left panels are indicated (black line). All images are maximal projections of 2 up to 6 optical sections (every 0.2 μm). Distal is right, proximal left. Scale bar: 10 μm. (l) Quantification of cell perimeter length (Left) and vertex-vertex distances (Right) (μm) in wt and Δmoe clones (in the center of the clone and along the border of the clone) in wings at 28–30 h APF. Bars indicate mean values ± SEM and statistical significance was analyzed by Student’s t-test [Δmoe clones versus wt cells, n_cells = 200, P < 0.0001, see the main text]. (m,n) Pupal wings containing Δmoe clones at 28–30 h APF stained for Crb (green). Moe depletion is revealed by the absence of GFP (blue). Distal is right, proximal left. Scale bar: 10 μm. (o) Quantification of Crb staining at the SAR in wt and Δmoe clones (in the center of the clone and along the border of the clone) in pupal wings at 28–30 h APF. Crb intensity per length unit (pixel intensity average) at the apico-lateral cortex was calculated and expressed in A.U. Bars indicate mean values of intensity ± SEM and statistical significance was analyzed by Student’s t-test [Δmoe = 7.18 ± 0.08 × 10⁶ A.U., versus wt = 6.96 ± 0.08 × 10⁶ A.U., n_wings = 5, n_cells = 70; P > 0.05].