Jiaying Shi, Chunyu Lyu
During development, tissues or organs are organized into distinct cell populations that do not intermix. The precise spatiotemporal arrangement of these populations establishes tissue boundaries and ensures proper morphogenesis. Signaling between membrane-bound Eph receptors and their ephrin ligands underlies the formation of multiple developmental boundaries, including those between germ layers, rhombomeres, and eye fields. Moreover, accumulating evidence indicates that actomyosin contractility serves as an important mechanical driver of Eph/ephrin-cell segregation and boundary formation. However, the mechanism by which Eph/ephrin signaling regulates actomyosin contractility have received relatively limited attention in previous reviews, particularly in the context of boundary sharpening. In this review, we focus on the interplay between Eph/ephrin signaling and actomyosin contractility and discuss how this interaction contributes to cell segregation and boundary formation.