A force to be reckoned with: How mechanics guide epithelial morphogenesis

Date

Jun 1, 2023

Time

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Speaker

Abdel Rahman Abdel Fattah

Affiliation

Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

Language

en

Main Topic

Biologie

Host

Jesse Veenvliet

Description

During development, simple epithelial sheets give rise to a plethora of tissues with complex forms and specialized functions through regulated and robust tissue choreography. Mechanical forces, influenced by the microenvironment and generated within the morphing tissue, play a crucial role in shaping tissues at precise locations and time points to ensure proper form. Meanwhile, epithelial decision-making processes contribute to tissue patterning by accurately specifying correct cell types within the overall cellular structure, giving rise to a functional tissue. To robustly and successfully create form and function, tissue mechanics and epithelial decision-making must be tightly interlinked. I will discuss, how we use engineering approaches to deconvolve the role of mechanical forces on morphogenesis and cell patterning in in-vitro human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) derived model systems. Specifically, I will discuss how mechanical forces instruct cell patterning and symmetry breaking in human neural tube organoids using a series of global and local actuation (mechanical stimulation) devices coupled with a single cell transcriptomics atlas. Furthermore, we will delve into the significance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) as a dynamic mechanical landscape during early development. In particular, I will discuss my recent work on the reciprocal relation between cell-driven ECM flow and epithelial morphogenesis. Through this study, I show that symmetry breaking events at sites of morphogenesis are necessary to drive and guide ECM flow, while ECM flow, in turn, is necessary to maintain morphogenesis. I will also discuss the in-silico modelling of this reciprocal relation and present the insights gained from single-cell transcriptomic analyses that reveals how ECM flow gives rise to a primitive streak-like phenotype in this pre-/early streak in-vitro gastrulation model

Last modified: Jun 2, 2023, 7:36:48 AM