The endocycle restores tissue tension in the Drosophila abdomen post wound repair

Polyploidy frequently arises in response to injury, aging, and disease. Despite its prevalence, major gaps exist in our understanding of how polyploid cells alter tissue function. In the adult Drosophila epithelium, wound healing is dependent on the generation of multinucleated polyploid cells resulting in a permanent change in the epithelial architecture. Here, we study how the wound-induced polyploid cells affect tissue function by altering epithelial mechanics. The mechanosensor nonmuscle myosin II is activated and upregulated in wound-induced polyploid cells and persists after healing completes. Polyploidy enhances relative epithelial tension, which is dependent on the endocycle and not cell fusion post injury. Remarkably, the enhanced epithelial tension mimics the relative tension of the lateral muscle fibers, which are permanently severed by the injury. As a result, we found that the wound-induced polyploid cells remodel the epithelium to maintain fly abdominal movements, which may help compensate for lost tissue tension.