A mechanochemical model recapitulates distinct vertebrate gastrulation modes

Abstract

During vertebrate gastrulation, an embryo transforms from a layer of epithelial cells into a multilayered gastrula. This process requires the coordinated movements of hundreds to tens of thousands of cells, depending on the organism. In the chick embryo, patterns of actomyosin cables spanning several cells drive coordinated tissue flows. Here, we derive a minimal theoretical framework that couples actomyosin activity to global tissue flows. Our model predicts the onset and development of gastrulation flows in normal and experimentally perturbed chick embryos, mimicking different gastrulation modes as an active stress instability. Varying initial conditions and a parameter associated with active cell ingression, our model recapitulates distinct vertebrate gastrulation morphologies, consistent with recently published experiments in the chick embryo. Altogether, our results show how changes in the patterning of critical cell behaviors associated with different force-generating mechanisms contribute to distinct vertebrate gastrulation modes via a self-organizing mechanochemical process.

Application of tissue-scale tension to avian epitheliain vivoto study multiscale mechanics and inter-germ layer coupling

“…Accordingly, a mechanically motivated framework for studying development has provided increasingly cross-disciplinary insights, particularly over the past two decades. This physically-motivated view of development has revealed that mechanisms of morphogenesis can be understood using purely mechanical descriptions, providing insights even in the absence of implicating genes or signaling pathways per se (Mongera et al, 2018; Saadaoui et al, 2020; Savin et al, 2011; Serra et al, 2023; Shyer et al, 2013; Tallinen et al, 2014). At the same time, physical forces and mechanical properties have begun to be recognized as guiding cell behaviors and gene expression as well, revealing mechanics as an important upstream regulator of cell behaviors during development (Barriga et al, 2018; Farge, 2003).…”