Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026
12:59
Three and Four-Dimensional Visualization and Analysis Approaches to Study Vertebrate Axial Elongation and Segmentation
Published on: February 28, 2021
4.2K
A fluid-to-solid jamming transition underlies vertebrate body axis elongation
Alessandro Mongera1,2,3, Payam Rowghanian1,2, Hannah J Gustafson1,2,4
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
Nature
|September 7, 2018
Summary
During vertebrate development, embryonic tissues transition from fluid-like to solid-like states, a jamming transition that guides body axis elongation and morphogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Developmental Biology
- Soft Matter Physics
Background:
- Cellular collectives exhibit jamming transitions, switching between fluid-like and solid-like behaviors.
- These jamming phenomena are observed in 2D and 3D cell cultures and theoretically predicted.
- Their occurrence and functional role in vivo, particularly during embryonic morphogenesis, remain largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether jamming transitions occur in vivo during vertebrate embryonic morphogenesis.
- To determine the functional role of these transitions in processes like body axis elongation.
- To elucidate the physical mechanisms underlying tissue behavior during development.
Main Methods:
- Direct in vivo measurements of tissue mechanics.
- Analysis of cellular dynamics during vertebrate body axis elongation.
- Quantification of N-cadherin-dependent yield stress gradients.
Main Results:
- Vertebrate posterior tissues undergo a jamming transition from fluid-like (mesodermal progenitor zone) to solid-like (presomitic mesoderm) states.
- An anteroposterior gradient in N-cadherin-dependent yield stress increases tissue mechanical integrity.
- Rapid cell-scale stress fluctuations enable tissue 'melting' at the growing end, while persistent supracellular stresses guide morphogenetic flows.
Conclusions:
- The spatiotemporal control of fluid-like and solid-like tissue states via jamming transitions is crucial for embryonic morphogenesis.
- This transition provides mechanical support for tissue remodeling and maturation during body axis extension.
- Jamming transitions represent a potentially generic physical mechanism governing embryonic development.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Composition of Body Fluids
2.6K
Water functions as a solvent accommodating various solutes, which can be categorized under electrolytes and non-electrolytes. Non-electrolytes are usually held together by covalent bonds, restricting them from dissociating in solution, thereby leading to a lack of electrically charged components upon dissolving in water. They are predominantly organic molecules, such as glucose, creatinine, and urea. Electrolytes, on the other hand, are compounds that can break down into ions in water.
2.6K
02:35Transcription Elongation Factors
14.0K
Transcription elongation is a dynamic process that alters depending upon the sequence heterogeneity of the DNA being transcribed. Hence, it is not surprising that the elongation complex's composition also varies along the way while transcribing a gene.
The transcription elongation is regulated via pausing of RNA polymerase on several occasions during transcription. In bacteria, these halts are necessary because the transcription of DNA into mRNA is coupled to the translation of that mRNA...
The transcription elongation is regulated via pausing of RNA polymerase on several occasions during transcription. In bacteria, these halts are necessary because the transcription of DNA into mRNA is coupled to the translation of that mRNA...
14.0K
02:35Transcription Elongation Factors
4.8K
4.8K
02:31Phase Transitions
23.2K
Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to...
23.2K
01:19Body Water Content and Fluid Compartments
4.2K
Life's biochemical processes occur within aqueous solutions. Solutes are substances that are dissolved within these solutions. The human body contains a variety of solutes, which can differ across various body parts. These can encompass proteins—such as those responsible for clotting and carbohydrate transport—as well as electrolytes. In medicine, an electrolyte is often described as a mineral ion derived from a salt possessing an electric charge. Examples include sodium ions...
4.2K
02:33Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
20.2K
Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...
20.2K