Branching morphogenesis: from cells to organs and back
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Updated: May 20, 2026

Engineering Three-dimensional Epithelial Tissues Embedded within Extracellular Matrix
Published on: July 10, 2016
Amanda Ochoa-Espinosa1, Markus Affolter
1Biozentrum der Universität Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Many animal organs, such as the lung, the kidney, the mammary gland, and the vasculature, consist of branched tubular structures that arise through a process known as "branching morphogenesis" that results from the remodeling of epithelial or endothelial sheaths into multicellular tubular networks. In recent years, the combination of molecular biology, forward and reverse genetic approaches, and their complementation by live imaging has started to unravel rules and mechanisms controlling branching processes in animals. Common patterns of branch formation spanning diverse model systems are beginning to emerge that might reflect unifying principles of tubular organ formation.
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