Furry is required for cell movements during gastrulation and functionally interacts with NDR1

Gastrulation is a key event in animal embryogenesis during which the germ layers precursors are rearranged and the embryonic axes are established. Cell polarization is essential during gastrulation driving asymmetric cell division, cell movements and cell shape changes. Furry (Fry) gene encodes an evolutionarily conserved protein with a wide variety of cellular functions mostly related to cell polarization and morphogenesis in invertebrates. However, little is known about its function in vertebrate development. Here we show that in Xenopus, Fry participates in the regulation of morphogenetic processes during gastrulation. Using morpholino knock-down, we demonstrate a role of Fry in blastopore closure and dorsal axis elongation. Loss of Fry function drastically affects the movement and morphological polarization of cells during gastrulation, in addition to dorsal mesoderm convergent extension, responsible for head-to-tail elongation. Finally, we demonstrate a functional interaction between Fry and NDR1 kinase, providing evidence of an evolutionarily conserved complex required for morphogenesis.