E-cadherin and LGN align epithelial cell divisions with tissue tension independently of cell shape

Tissue morphogenesis requires coordinated regulation of cellular behavior through instructive signals from the local tissue environment, including mechanical forces exerted by neighboring cells. The cell-cell adhesion protein E-cadherin plays an important role in converting tensile forces across the tissue into an intracellular response to regulate actin cytoskeleton organization, reinforce cell-cell adhesion, and activate transcriptional programs. We show E-cadherin also transduces these forces to orient the mitotic spindle, which occurs irrespectively of tension-induced changes in cell shape and instead involves regulation of junctional recruitment of the protein LGN, a core component of the spindle orientation machinery. Because the orientation of cell division controls tissue architecture, these findings support a key role of E-cadherin in mechanical regulation of tissue morphogenesis.