Mechanosensitive and Reversible Chromatin-Lamina Dewetting Triggers Cellular Contraction During Wound Healing

Abstract

Tissue wounding causes rapid mechanical changes in the epithelium, but how these changes affect intracellular organization remains unclear. Using the Drosophila embryonic epidermis, we show that wounding induces a fast, transient compaction of chromatin and its detachment ("dewetting") from the nuclear lamina in about half of the wound-edge cells. Within minutes, chromatin in these cells re-expands and re-associates with the lamina ("re-wetting"). This reversible chromatin-lamina dewetting is mechanosensitive, requiring both the LINC complex and intracellular calcium. During compaction, calcium is stored within chromatin and is later released during ATR-mediated expansion and lamina re-wetting. Chromatin re-expansion then triggers actomyosin contraction and promotes tissue repair through Jun kinase activation, straightening of the wound edge, and supracellular actin ring formation. Together, our findings reveal a multiscale mechanosensitive mechanism by which tissue-scale mechanical changes induce a reversible chromatin-lamina dewetting, leading to cellular contraction and initiation of tissue repair.