Two phases for centripetal migration of Drosophila melanogaster follicle cells: initial ingression followed by epithelial migration.

During Drosophila oogenesis, somatic follicle cells (FCs) differentiate to secrete components of the eggshell. Before secretion, the epithelium reorganizes to shape eggshell specializations, including border FC collective cell migration and later dorsal formation. These FC movements provide valuable insights into collective cell migration. However, little is known about centripetal migration, which encloses the oocyte after secretion has begun. Centripetal migration begins with apical extension of a few FCs that move away from the basement membrane to invade between germ cells. We define a timeline of reproducible milestones, using time-lapse imaging of egg chamber explants. Inward migration occurs in two phases. First, leading centripetal FCs ingress, extending apically over the anterior oocyte, and constricting basally. Second, following FCs move collectively toward the anterior, then around the corner to move inward with minimal change in aspect ratio. E-cadherin was required in leading centripetal FCs for their normal ingression, assessed with homozygous shotgun mutant or RNAi knockdown clones; ingression was influenced non-autonomously by mutant following FCs. This work establishes centripetal migration as an accessible model for biphasic E-cadherin-adhesion-mediated collective migration.