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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 26: Focus Session: Inference Methods and Biological Data (German-French Focus Session) (joint session BP/DY)
DY 26.3: Talk
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 15:45–16:00, H 2032
Inference and modelling of the stochastic dynamics of cell shape during cellular state transition — •Wolfram Pönisch1, Iskra Yanakieva1, Belle Sow1, Aki Stubb2, Alex Winkel1, Guillaume Salbreux3, and Ewa Paluch1 — 1University of Cambridge, UK — 2MPI for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster, Germany — 3University of Geneva, Switzerland
The development of an organism involves a series of state transitions in which cells progressively specialize. Many state transitions coincide with changes in cell shape, with emerging evidence suggesting a strong crosstalk between shape and states. An example is epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) which plays a crucial role in development and pathogenesis. Yet, there is very limited knowledge about cell morphodynamics during EMT. Here, we present a morphometric pipeline to analyse individual cell shapes in 3D as cells undergo EMT. By modelling the dynamics as a Langevin process, we infer the potential driving EMT and capture temporal dynamics of cell shape fluctuations during the transition. Our findings reveal a peak in cell shape fluctuations coinciding with the time of spreading during EMT. We hypothesize that downstream biomechanical mechanisms are controlling cell shape fluctuations during EMT and combine computational modelling of cell morphodynamics with molecular perturbation experiments. Overall, by combining morphometric approaches with stochastic inference and mathematical modelling, we create a comprehensive understanding of the biophysical basis of shape changes associated with state transitions.
Keywords: Morphometrics; Modelling; Cell State; Stochastic Inference; Cell Shape