The regulation of morphogenesis by the basement membrane (BM) may rely on changes in its mechanical properties. To test this, we developed an atomic force microscopy-based method to measure BM mechanical stiffness during two key processes in ovarian follicle development. First, follicle elongation depends on epithelial cells that collectively migrate, secreting BM fibrils perpendicularly to the anteroposterior axis. Our data show that BM stiffness increases during this migration and that fibril incorporation enhances BM stiffness. In addition, stiffness heterogeneity, due to oriented fibrils, is important for egg elongation. Second, epithelial cells change their shape from cuboidal to either squamous or columnar. We prove that BM softens around the squamous cells and that this softening depends on the TGFβ pathway. We also demonstrate that interactions between BM constituents are necessary for cell flattening. Altogether, these resultsshow that BM mechanical properties are modified during development and that, in turn, such mechanical modifications influence both cell and tissue shapes.

Although the regulation of epithelial morphogenesis is essential for the formation of tissues and organs in multicellular organisms, little is known about how signalling pathways control cell shape changes in space and time. In the Drosophila ovarian epithelium, the transition from a cuboidal to a squamous shape is accompanied by a wave of cell flattening and by the ordered remodelling of E-cadherin-based adherens junctions. We show that activation of the TGFβ pathway is crucial to determine the timing, the degree and the dynamic of cell flattening. Within these cells, TGFβ signalling controls cell-autonomously the formation of Actin filament and the localisation of activated Myosin II, indicating that internal forces are generated and used to remodel AJ and to promote cytoskeleton rearrangement. Our results also reveal that TGFβ signalling controls Notch activity and that its functions are partly executed through Notch. Thus, we demonstrate that the cells that undergo the cuboidal-to-squamous transition produce active cell-shaping mechanisms, rather than passively flattening in response to a global force generated by the growth of the underlying cells. Thus, our work on TGFβ signalling provides new insights into the mechanisms through which signal transduction cascades orchestrate cell shape changes to generate proper organ structure.