Cap mesenchyme cell swarming during kidney development is influenced by attraction, repulsion, and adhesion to the ureteric tip

•Cap mesenchyme cells are motile during kidney development.•Cells migrate within and between cap mesenchyme domains.•Cap mesenchyme cells attach and detach from the ureteric epithelium across time.•Migration enables individual cap cells to interact with both tip and stromal environments.•Statistical analysis supports the presence of CM-UT attraction and repulsion.

Morphogenesis of the mammalian kidney requires reciprocal interactions between two cellular domains at the periphery of the developing organ: the tips of the epithelial ureteric tree and adjacent regions of cap mesenchyme. While the presence of the cap mesenchyme is essential for ureteric branching, how it is specifically maintained at the tips is unclear. Using ex vivo timelapse imaging we show that cells of the cap mesenchyme are highly motile. Individual cap mesenchyme cells move within and between cap domains. They also attach and detach from the ureteric tip across time. Timelapse tracks collected for >800 cells showed evidence that this movement was largely stochastic, with cell autonomous migration influenced by opposing attractive, repulsive and cell adhesion cues. The resulting swarming behaviour maintains a distinct cap mesenchyme domain while facilitating dynamic remodelling in response to underlying changes in the tip.

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