A mechanosensitive RhoA pathway that protects epithelia against acute tensile stress.
Adherens junctions are tensile structures that couple epithelial cells together. Junctional tension can arise from cell-intrinsic application of contractility or from the cell-extrinsic forces of tissue movement. In all these circumstances, it is essential that epithelial integrity be preserved despite the application of tensile stress. In this study, we identify junctional RhoA as a mechanosensitive signaling pathway that responds to epithelial stress. The junctional specificity of this response is mediated by the heterotrimeric protein G12, which is recruited by E-cadherin and, in turn, recruits p114 RhoGEF to activate RhoA. Further, we identify Myosin VI as a key mechanosensor, based on its intrinsic capacity to anchor E-cadherin to F-actin when exposed to tensile load. Tension-activated RhoA signaling was necessary to preserve epithelial integrity, which otherwise undergoes fracture when monolayer stress is acutely increased by calyculin. Paradoxically, this homeostatic RhoA signaling pathway increases junctional actomyosin, a contractile response that might be expected to itself promote fracture. Simulations of a vertex-based model revealed that the protective effect of RhoA signaling can be explained through increased yield limit at multicellular vertices, where experiments showed p114 RhoGEF was necessary to increase E-cadherin and promote actin assembly and organization.