Morphogenesis, wound healing, and some cancer metastases depend upon the migration of cell collectives that need to be guided to their destination as well as coordinated with other cell movements. During zebrafish gastrulation, the extension of the embryonic axis is led by the mesendodermal polster that migrates toward the animal pole, followed by the axial mesoderm that undergoes convergence and extension. Here, we investigate how polster cells are guided toward the animal pole. Using a combination of precise laser ablations, advanced transplants, and functional as well as in silico approaches, we establish that each polster cell is oriented by its immediate follower cells. Each cell perceives the migration of followers, through E-cadherin/α-catenin mechanotransduction, and aligns with them. Therefore, directional information propagates from cell to cell over the whole tissue. Such guidance of migrating cells by followers ensures long-range coordination of movements and developmental robustness.

形态发生、伤口愈合和一些癌症转移依赖于细胞群的迁移，这些细胞群需要被引导到目的地并与其他细胞运动相协调。在斑马鱼原肠胚形成过程中，胚胎轴的延伸由向动物极迁移的中胚层 polster 引导，随后是经历会聚和延伸的轴向中胚层。在这里，我们研究了如何将 polster 细胞引导至动物极。结合使用精确的激光消融、先进的移植以及功能和计算机方法，我们确定每个 polster 单元都由其直接跟随单元定向。每个细胞通过 E-cadherin/α-catenin 机械转导感知跟随者的迁移，并与他们对齐。因此，方向信息在整个组织中从一个细胞传播到另一个细胞。追随者对迁移细胞的这种指导确保了运动的长期协调和发育的稳健性。