Post-Turing tissue pattern formation: Advent of mechanochemistry

In this study, we thus focus on the interplay between chemical and mechanical processes during tissue development. On one hand, based on recent exper imental data, we develop new mechanochemical simulation models of evolving tissues, in which the full 3D representation of the tissue appears to be critical for obtaining a realistic mechanochemical behaviour. The presented modelling approach is flexible and numerically studied using state of the ar t finite element methods. Thus, it may serve as a basis to combine simulations with new experimental methods in tissue development. On the other hand, we apply the developed approach and demonstrate that even simple interactions between tissue mechanics and chemistry spontaneously lead to robust and complex mechanochemical patterns. Especially, we demonstrate that the main contradictions arising in the framework of purely chemical theories are naturally and automatically resolved using the mechanochemical patterning theory.
Source: PLoS Computational Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research