Autonomous epithelial folding induced by an intracellular mechano-polarity feedback loop

Area of Science:

• Developmental Biology
• Biophysics
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Epithelial tissues form complex folded structures during embryonic development and organogenesis.
• The interplay between mechanical forces and biochemical signaling in epithelial folding is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and analyze a mechano-biochemical model for dorsal fold formation in the early Drosophila embryo.
• To investigate the synergistic effects of mechanical and biochemical factors on epithelial folding.

Main Methods:

• Development of a computational model coupling cell mechanics to cell polarity.
• Integration of experimentally observed apical domain homeostasis.
• Analysis of reaction-diffusion dynamics of polarity proteins.

Main Results:

• The model demonstrates spontaneous in silico epithelial fold formation.
• Mechanical changes alter cell geometry, influencing polarity protein dynamics and creating a feedback loop.
• The model recapitulates observed in vivo polarity and shape changes.

Conclusions:

• Intracellular mechano-polarity coupling is a key mechanism driving emergent properties in developing epithelia.
• This feedback loop confers robustness to tissue shape changes against fluctuations.
• The findings provide new insights into the synergistic regulation of epithelial morphogenesis.