Developmental mechanics, extracellular ATP, and the thermotolerance of gastrulation

Datum

15.09.2022

Zeit

11:00 - 12:00

Sprecher

Lance Davidson

Zugehörigkeit

University of Pittsburgh, USA

Serie

MPI-CBG Thursday Seminar

Sprache

en

Hauptthema

Biologie

Host

Jacqueline Tabler

Beschreibung

My group studies development in the frog embryo focusing on biomechanics and mechanobiology of gastrulation, neurulation and organogenesis. We aim to identify developmental origins of passive tissue properties such as stiffness as well as active processes that generate force. We further seek to elucidate mechanobiology circuits that regulate cell behaviors and tissue deformation, and provide cues for cell fate decisions. The first part of this presentation will survey our work on the role of tissue architecture, cell size, and the actomyosin cell cortex on physiologically critical mechanical properties of the embryo during dorsal convergent extension. The second part will explore the question of how, as a cold-blooded organism, Xenopus can maintain robust morphogenesis over a broad range of temperatures. Developmental rates from egg to tadpole follow the Q10 of simple chemical reactions increasing 7-fold from 14 to 30°C. How do developmental mechanics change over this range? and how are deformation rates accommodated without compromising the integrity of ultrasoft embryonic tissues? One possible solution to the last question may lie in a closed-loop feedback circuit we recently uncovered in the Xenopus epithelium that appears to function as a "mechanical governor" during the most rapid phases of gastrulation and neurulation. High heterogeneous strains in the embryonic epithelium drive release of extracellular ATP that activates contractility in the surrounding tissues to slow morphogenesis. The operation of such a mechanism in Xenopus may underlie its fitness as an invasive species, enabling these frogs to expand their populations at the margins of their native ranges and establish new non-indigenous colonies.

Letztmalig verändert: 16.09.2022, 00:07:06