The dynamics of body elongation in vertebrate morphogenesis

ORAL

Abstract

Vertebrate embryos have a body axis that grows by the addition of cells in a posterior growth zone in the embryo. Experiments show that these cells show a gradient in motility that decays towards the anterior of the embryo, consistent with a degradation of specific cellular signals (FgF) that control cellular motility. However, this motility is primarily diffusive in nature, and converted into an advective gradient by virtue of inhomogeneous confinement. We use these observations to build a minimal mechanochemical model for tissue extension as a function of FgF activity, cell motility and tissue rheology with results that allow us to explicitly test the model in a variety of in-vivo and ex-vivo situations, with implications for normal and pathological axis elongation.

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Authors

  • Ido Regev

    Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Olivier Pourqui\'e

    Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital

  • L. Mahadevan

    Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University, SEAS, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, Harvard, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138,USA., SEAS, Department of organismic and evolutionary biology, Harvard university, SEAS, Harvard University, Harvard Univ, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Wyss Institute, Harvard University