Dorsal closure, a late-embryogenesis process, consists in the sealing of an epidermal gap on the dorsal side of the Drosophila embryo. Because of its similarities with wound healing and neural tube closure in humans, it has been extensively studied in the last twenty years. The process requires the coordination of several force generating mechanisms, that together will zip shut the epidermis. Recent works have provided a precise description of the cellular behavior at the origin of these forces and proposed quantitative models of the process. In this review, we will describe the different forces acting in dorsal closure. We will present our current knowledge on the mechanisms generating and regulating these forces and report on the different quantitative mathematical models proposed so far.

The research in the Solon lab is granted by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Plan Nacional, BFU2010-16546 and 'Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2013-2017', SEV-2012-0208 and P.H. has received a fellowship from 'La Caixa' PhD program. We acknowledge the support of the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.