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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 4: Statistical physics in biological systems II (joint session DY/BP)

DY 4.1: Hauptvortrag

Montag, 23. März 2009, 14:00–14:30, HÜL 386

Mechanisms of tissue maintenance: a laboratory for statistical physics — •Benjamin Simons — Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, UK

In adult organisms, many tissues are maintained and repaired by stem cells, which divide and differentiate to generate more specialized progeny. The mechanisms that control the balance between self-renewal and differentiation promise fundamental insights into the origin and design of multi-cellular organisms. However, stem cells are often difficult to distinguish from their more differentiated progeny, and resolving these mechanisms has proved challenging. Drawing upon the results of inducible genetic labeling studies and concepts from statistical physics, we demonstrate how scaling behaviour of *clone* size distributions and spontaneous patterning phenomena reveal signatures of stochastic stem and progenitor cell fate. As well as providing insight into the molecular regulatory mechanisms controlling the maintenance, repair and regeneration of adult tissues, these results identify common organizational principles of tissue architecture.