Quantitative methods to study epithelial morphogenesis and polarity

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Biophysics

Background:

• Epithelial tissue morphogenesis arises from cellular behaviors like shape changes, rearrangements, and divisions.
• Polarized molecular distribution directs these cellular events, controlling tissue development.
• Recent advances in genetics, microscopy, and image analysis allow precise measurement of cell dynamics and polarity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current approaches for visualizing and quantifying cell polarity and tissue morphogenesis.
• To describe tools and theoretical concepts for multi-scale quantitative analysis.
• To guide researchers in selecting appropriate methods for studying tissue development.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing cell and polarity reporters, including mosaics, to reveal hidden polarities and morphogenetic events.
• Comparing microscopy techniques and image projection algorithms for application-specific advantages and disadvantages.
• Extracting cell outlines to measure cell polarity and detect underlying cellular events.
• Quantifying the contribution of individual cellular events to global tissue deformation.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive overview of methods for visualizing and measuring cell polarity and tissue morphogenesis.
• Detailed description of tools and theoretical concepts for quantitative multi-scale analysis.
• Guidance on selecting appropriate reporters, microscopy, and image analysis techniques.

Conclusions:

• Quantitative study of cell polarity and tissue morphogenesis is advanced by integrated approaches.
• Precise measurement of cellular dynamics and their contribution to tissue deformation is now feasible.
• This review provides a framework for researchers to quantitatively investigate tissue development.