Berlin 2024 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 11: Cell Mechanics I
BP 11.4: Talk
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 10:30–10:45, H 2032
Shaping the embyo: a mechanical analysis of embryonal symmetry breaking — •Alejandro Jurado Jiménez1, Leon Lettermann1, Bernhard Wallmeyer2, Lea Krüger3, and Timo Betz1 — 1Third Institute of Physics - Biophysics, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, University of Göttingen — 2Institute of Cell Biology, ZMBE, Von-Esmarch-Str. 56, University of Münster — 3Institut für Theoretische Physik, Wilhelm-Klemm-Straße 9, University of Münster
In this work we present a hydrodynamical analysis of early Zebrafish development which aims to understand the mechanical state of the tissue leading to its first symmetry breaking during epiboly: the shield formation. A full mechanical characterization of the blastoderm is achieved using a combination of Light-Sheet microscopy, state-of-the-art cell tracking of the cells nuclei and force measurements using polyacrylamide beads as in-vivo sensors. The analysis of our huge datasets required ad-hoc tools for embryo alignment, image segmentation, beads/nuclei detection and derivation of the forces from elastic deformations. All of them have proven to be very powerful when tacking similar experiments in living tissue, and we share them publicly in an online repository. Our experimental analysis is being supported and expanded by a NeuronalODE model, able to retrieve a full dynamical description of the blastoderm only using the velocity field of the embryo. Alltogether we expose a stress asymmetry prior and during the shield formation, form which we can learn more about the mechanical origin of embryonal symmetry breaking.
Keywords: Zebrafish; Embryogenesis; Force sensors; Cell dynamics