Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 19: Multi-cellular systems
BP 19.7: Talk
Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 11:30–11:45, H 1058
Hydrodynamic theory of developing epithelia — •Marko Popovic1, Raphael Etournay2, Matthias Merkel1, Amitabha Nandi1, Frank Jülicher1, Suzanne Eaton2, and Guillaume Salbreux1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
Epithelia are two-dimensional sheets of cells which can deform and flow during animal development. During epithelial deformations, cells can change shape, but can also rearrange their neighbors, divide or be extruded from the tissue. Neighbor rearrangements occur through topological transitions where cell-cell junctions disappear and reform. Topological transitions are an important component of many developmental events. They enable relaxation of shear stress, effectively allowing viscous flows in the epithelium.
We study the pupal wing morphogenesis in the fruit fly D. melanogaster and quantify the contribution of topological transitions to the overall wing shape. The non-trivial pattern of this contribution suggests the existence of active processes driving topological transitions. To understand the mechanics of the developing epithelium, we propose a hydrodynamic theory including the effects of active cellular processes. The theory describes effects of topological transitions and cell shape changes on the tissue shear, thus connecting cellular and tissue scales. Although motivated by the fruit fly wing morphogenesis, our theory is generic and can be applied to other tissues.