Mechanobiology and morphogenesis in living matter: a survey

Abstract

Morphogenesis in living tissues is the paramount example of a time- and space-dependent orchestration of living matter where shape and order emerge from undifferentiated initial conditions. The genes encode the protein expression that eventually drives the emergence of the phenotype, while energy supply and cell-to-cell communication mechanisms are necessary to such a process. The overall control of the system likely exploits the laws of chemistry and physics through robust and universal processes. Even if the identification of the communication mechanisms is a question of fundamental nature, a long-standing investigation settled in the realm of chemical factors only (also known as morphogens) faces a number of apparently unsolvable questions. In this paper, we investigate at what extent mechanical forces, alone or through their biological feedbacks, can direct some basic aspects of morphogenesis in development biology. In this branch of mechano-biology, we discuss the typical rheological regimes of soft living matter and the related forces, providing a survey on how local mechanical feedbacks can control global size or even gene expression. We finally highlight the pivotal role of nonlinear mechanics to explain the emergence of complex shapes in living matter

Surface tension controls the onset of gyrification in brain organoids

“…The restoration of the compatibility requires to elastically distort the body and generate residual stresses [Hoger, 1985, Rodriguez et al, 1994. Differential growth and residual stresses are involved in the morphogenesis of tissues [Ambrosi et al, 2017a] such as intestinal villi [Balbi and Ciarletta, 2013, Ben Amar and Jia, 2013, Ciarletta et al, 2014 and they enhance the mechanical strength of several biological structures, such as arteries [Chuong and Fung, 1986].…”

Flutter instability in solids and structures, with a view on biomechanics and metamaterials

“…It was shown in [133] that the primary periodicity may be of spatial rather than temporal origin and that the required synchronization may be due to mechanical , rather than biochemical, signalling. Mechanical instabilities can lead to the development of stress inhomogeneities in spatially distant material points thus generating a robust number of segments without dependence on genetic oscillations [133,134].…”

Biomechanics in AIMETA

“…Experimental methods and theoretical frameworks provide an increasingly detailed understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms of growth and remodeling as well as tissue-to-organism level manifestations [2,3,21].…”