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Updated: Feb 21, 2026
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Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging
Published on: April 30, 2019
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Network-based approaches to quantify multicellular development
Matthew D B Jackson1, Salva Duran-Nebreda1, George W Bassel2
1School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
|October 13, 2017
Summary
Understanding how cells organize in organs is crucial for organ function. New methods analyze cellular arrangements to reveal evolutionary patterns and guide future organ design.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Systems Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Multicellularity enables novel organ functions through structure-function relationships.
- While cell behaviors like migration and division are studied, higher-order cellular organization in organs remains less understood.
- The functional coordination of organs via global spatial relations is key to their development and constraints.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the reasons behind specific cellular organization patterns in organs.
- To determine the evolutionary significance of selected cellular organization patterns.
- To explore alternative possible configurations of cellular organization.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing global cellular interaction mapping and network science to analyze organ structure and function.
- Discretizing and analyzing global cellular organization to create a quantitative framework for studying developmental processes.
- Leveraging advances in high-resolution microscopy and image analysis for cellular interaction mapping.
Main Results:
- A quantitative framework was developed to analyze local and global properties of multicellular systems.
- The approach allows for discrete analysis and comparison of cellular organization across different tissues and models.
- Cellular interaction mapping is becoming increasingly feasible across diverse biological systems.
Conclusions:
- Understanding higher-order properties of cellular assemblies offers insights into the evolution and constraints of cell organization.
- Establishing structure-function relationships in cellular organization can guide future organ design.
- This approach provides a quantitative method to explore developmental processes and evolutionary patterns in organ development.
