Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026
07:19
Protocol for Biofilm Streamer Formation in a Microfluidic Device with Micro-pillars
Published on: August 20, 2014
Mechanical instabilities of biological tubes
Edouard Hannezo1, Jacques Prost, Jean-François Joanny
1Physicochimie Curie, Institut Curie, Centre de Recherche, 26 rue d'Ulm F-75248 Paris Cedex 05, France.
Physical Review Letters
|October 4, 2012
Summary
Pathological changes in biological tubes cause buckling instabilities, leading to various abnormal shapes. Mechanical tissue properties determine these shapes, offering insights into disease causes and genetic regulation.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Mechanobiology
- Pathology
Background:
- Biological tubes can exhibit abnormal morphologies due to various pathologies.
- Epithelial cell growth and division can induce mechanical stress, leading to instabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically investigate the morphologies of biological tubes under pathological conditions.
- To understand the relationship between tissue mechanics and observed tubular shapes.
- To develop a framework for linking abnormal shapes to underlying causes.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of tubular structures.
- Analysis of buckling instabilities induced by cellular growth.
- Investigation of the influence of mechanical parameters (Young's modulus, wall-to-lumen ratio, homeostatic pressure).
Main Results:
- Identified several pathological tubular shapes: varicose, dilated, sinuous, and sausagelike.
- Demonstrated that final shape is critically dependent on tissue mechanical properties.
- Calculated a phase diagram for tubular instabilities.
Conclusions:
- Abnormal tubular shapes in quasistatic mechanical equilibrium provide information about the causative pathology.
- The phase diagram serves as a guide for investigating genetic regulation in diseases affecting tubular structures.
Related Concept Videos
02:17Microtubule Instability
Microtubules are hollow cylindrical filaments having a diameter of approximately 25 nm and a length that varies from 200 nm to 25 μm. GTP-bound tubulin subunits form αβ-heterodimers for microtubule assembly. These core building blocks interact longitudinally, polymerizing into protofilaments. The protofilaments then interact with one another through lateral bonding forces to form stable cylindrical microtubules. These cylindrical filaments are dynamic as they undergo repeated assembly and...
02:17Microtubule Instability
Microtubules are hollow cylindrical filaments having a diameter of approximately 25 nm and a length that varies from 200 nm to 25 μm. GTP-bound tubulin subunits form αβ-heterodimers for microtubule assembly. These core building blocks interact longitudinally, polymerizing into protofilaments. The protofilaments then interact with one another through lateral bonding forces to form stable cylindrical microtubules. These cylindrical filaments are dynamic as they undergo repeated assembly and...
01:23Steady, Laminar Flow in Circular Tubes
Hagen-Poiseuille flow describes a viscous fluid's steady, incompressible flow through a cylindrical tube with a constant radius R. This flow profile is often applied to understand fluid transport in narrow channels, such as capillaries. It serves as a foundational example of laminar flow. In this model, cylindrical coordinates (r,θ,z) are used to describe the radial (r), angular (θ), and axial (z) dimensions within the tube. For Hagen-Poiseuille flow, the velocity profile is purely axial,...
01:24Turbulent Flow
Turbulent flow is characterized by unpredictable fluctuations in velocity and pressure, which result in a chaotic fluid movement distinct from the orderly patterns of laminar flow. While laminar flow is governed by smooth, parallel layers with minimal mixing, turbulent flow exhibits highly irregular, three-dimensional patterns. This behavior arises due to instabilities in the fluid's velocity profile, and amplifies as the flow velocity increases. Minor disturbances, known as turbulent spots,...