Reciprocal coupling between EMT and BMP morphogen signalling drives collective cell invasion.

Reciprocal coupling between EMT and BMP signalling, mediated by SNAI2 and SMAD1, drives collective cell invasion in chick tissues.

• Why it matters: Understanding how cell fate specification and invasion are coordinated is crucial for insights into developmental processes and cancer metastasis, where these mechanisms are often dysregulated.
• What they did: The study used ex vivo chick tissue explants, single-cell RNA sequencing, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to investigate the interaction between SNAI2 and SMAD1 during EMT and BMP signalling.
• The result: Findings show SNAI2 is necessary for SMAD1 expression and BMP signalling, which influences cell dispersal and migration, revealing a mechanism that synchronizes cell fate and invasion during development.