Regensburg 2019 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 12: Poster II
BP 12.78: Poster
Dienstag, 2. April 2019, 14:00–16:00, Poster B2
How to generate a long-range signalling gradient based on short-range molecular interactions? — •Johanna Dickmann1,2, Steffen Werner1, Jochen Rink2, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
Animal bodies show a fascinating degree of organisation as testified by their complex body plans. In the context of embryonic development, signalling gradients (spatially graded profiles of signalling intensity) emerged as key concepts of body plan patterning. They have been explained by a substance diffusing away from a local source and being degraded. In case of regeneration, new tissue has to be patterned on adult length scales. It is debatable if a diffusion-based mechanism is fast enough to explain gradient formation on adult length scales. Flatworms are masters of regeneration, re-growing a perfectly patterned body from arbitrary amputation fragments at an adult length of up to 2 cm. Their main body axis - as for most animals - is patterned by a Wnt signalling gradient. In addition to a local Wnt source, they show spatially graded Wnt expression. Based on these observations, we hypothesise that additional Wnt sources are generated in response to signalling, organised by a local, signalling-independent source. We formalise the suggested mechanism in a physical model using differential equations, analyse the model both analytically and numerically, and test it experimentally by interfering with the gradient. This way, we hope to unravel a novel mechanism for long-range gradient formation.