Dresden 2009 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 8: Developmental Processes
BP 8.4: Talk
Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 10:45–11:00, HÜL 186
Investigating the influence of mechanics on epithelial morphogenesis — •Carina M. Edwards1, Francesco Pampaloni2, Ernst H. K. Stelzer2, and Ulrich S. Schwarz1,3 — 1Center for Modelling and Simulation in the Biosciences (BIOMS), University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany — 2EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany — 3University of Karlsruhe, Theoretical Biophysics Group, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Mechanical stress and strain are increasingly being recognized as playing a crucial role in determining tissue size and structure. Because experimentally it is very difficult to measure stress and strain for growing tissues, mathematical modelling is required to correlate stress and strain with biological processes like cytoskeletal remodelling. In order to acquire quantitative data, one needs to combine advanced microscopy techniques with image processing. Here we use light-sheet-based fluorescence microscopy applied to the growth of cysts from Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Using careful image analysis we extract time-resolved data on cyst and lumen size, and on the number of cells. These results are used to rule out or validate growth models, including those that incorporate mechanical effects. We are also able to look at the effect of gel stiffness on cyst growth.