Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 10: Posters: Tissue Dynamics \& Developmental Processes
BP 10.10: Poster
Monday, March 14, 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3
Biochemical and Mechanical Regulation of Growth in Developing Epithelia — •Peer Mumcu1, Ortrud Wartlick2, Marcos González-Gaitán2, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — 2Department of Biochemistry and Department of Molecular Biology, Geneva University, Switzerland
Developing tissues possess intrinsic growth control mechanisms that determine the final size and shape. The basic principles of growth regulation are still poorly understood. However, there is a lot of evidence that certain morphogens act as growth factors and play a key role in this process. Morphogens are a special class of signaling molecules that are secreted from localized sources, spread throughout the tissue and form graded concentration profiles. We study growth regulation from a theoretical viewpoint using a two-dimensional vertex model that describes the organization of cells by a network of polygons, including the dynamics of morphogen distributions as additional variables. In this theoretical framework, we can study the consequences of specific growth rules according to which cells divide when subject to relative temporal changes of the cellular morphogen levels. We discuss a scenario that is consistent with experimentally observed growth curves obtained in the fruit fly Drosophila. We also discuss the role of mechanical stresses in this system, which can reduce spatial growth inhomogeneities and the rate of cell death.