Anisotropic growth shapes intestinal tissues during embryogenesis

Area of Science:

• Developmental biology
• Biophysics
• Tissue engineering

Background:

• Embryogenesis involves pattern formation and instabilities in soft tissues due to growth.
• Layered biological tissues exhibit differential elasticity and undergo remodeling.
• A herringbone pattern in fetal intestinal tissues precedes villi formation, regulating cell renewal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explain the buckling and postbuckling instabilities observed in fetal intestinal tissues.
• To provide an analytical model for the herringbone pattern formation in embryonic intestines.
• To investigate the role of differential growth and anisotropy in intestinal morphogenesis.

Main Methods:

• Review of experimental results on duodenum morphogenesis.
• Development of an analytical model based on simplified mesenchymal growth hypotheses.
• Analysis of biaxial compressive stresses arising from differential growth between tissue layers.

Main Results:

• The model quantitatively predicts morphological changes, including herringbone pattern formation.
• Differential growth between layers induces compressive stresses, leading to buckling.
• Increasing growth anisotropy drives secondary instabilities, such as the competition between folds and zigzags.

Conclusions:

• A simplified mesenchymal growth model can analytically explain intestinal zigzag instabilities.
• The model accurately predicts morphological changes observed in chick duodenum development.
• This analytical approach is applicable to other intestinal tissues and provides insights into embryogenesis.