Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Posters: Active cell and tissue mechanics

BP 8.2: Poster

Monday, March 31, 2014, 17:30–19:30, P3

Mechanical cues during early embryogenesis of C. elegans — •Philipp Struntz, Rolf Fickentscher, and Matthias Weiss — Experimental Physics I, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

The impact of biochemical signaling on developmental processes has been studied intensively during the last decades. However, the role of mechanical cues during embryogenesis has received much less attention. To elucidate the latter in the developmental model organism C. elegans, we have used a custom-made selective plane illumination microscope (SPIM) [1]. SPIM allowed us to quantitatively follow cell divisions and subsequent cell migration in three dimensions with a high spatiotemporal resolution. Comparison of different individuals showed only small deviations of cell trajectories, hence indicating a robust cellular arrangement process. A simple mechanical model revealed that cell organisation until gastrulation is determined by the cells’ quest for a position with least repulsive interactions imposed by surrounding cells and the engulfing eggshell of the embryo. The model also predicts key features of the developing tissue that are in favorable agreement with experimental observations.

[1] Rolf Fickentscher, Philipp Struntz & Matthias Weiss: Mechanical cues in the early embryogenesis of Caenorhabditis elegans. Biophys. J, 105:1805 – 1811 (2013)