Wound-Induced Syncytia Outpace Mononucleate Neighbors during Drosophila Wound Repair

In response to injury, cells proliferate, migrate and invade to replace missing cells and close wounds. However, the role of other wound-induced cell behaviors is not understood, including the formation of syncytia (multinucleated cells). Here, we use in vivo live imaging to analyze wound-induced syncytia in mitotically competent Drosophila pupae. We find that almost half the epithelial cells near a wound fuse to form large syncytia. When the autophagy gene Atg1 is knocked down, fewer syncytia form, and wounds close more slowly. Further, a computational model of tissue fluidity indicates that cell fusion speeds wound closure time by about one third. Syncytia use several routes to speed wound repair: they outpace diploid cells at the wound margin to lead the initial resealing of the wound; they reduce the need for intercalation as the tissue reshapes during closure; and they pool resources of their component cells to concentrate them toward the wound margin. In addition to wound healing, these properties of syncytia are likely to contribute to their roles in development and pathology.