Mechanical aspects of mesenchymal morphogenesis

TLDR

Embryonic cells generate contractile forces that deform their microenvironment, influencing subsequent movements through convection, contact guidance, and haptotaxis. The study develops a model to investigate how cumulative cell-generated forces produce regular large-scale patterns in cell populations. The model, applied to feather germ formation and cartilage condensation in limb development, captures the cumulative mechanical effects of cell-generated forces on tissue deformation and pattern formation. The model predicts how cellular and matrix properties influence the resulting pattern outcomes.

Abstract

Many embryonic cells generate substantial contractile forces as they spread and crawl. These forces mechanically deform each cell's local environment, and the resulting distortions can alter subsequent cell movements by convection and the mechanisms of contact guidance and haptotaxis. Here we develop a model for the cumulative effects of these cell-generated forces and show how they can lead to the formation of regular large-scale patterns in cell populations. This model leads to several predictions concerning the effects of cellular and matrix properties on the resulting patterns. We apply the model to two widely studied morphogenetic processes: (a) patterns of skin-organ primordia, especially feather germ formation, and (b) the condensation of cartilagenous skeletal rudiments in the developing vertebrate limb.