Click here to close
Hello! We notice that you are using Internet Explorer, which is not supported by Xenbase and may cause the site to display incorrectly.
We suggest using a current version of Chrome,
FireFox, or Safari.
???displayArticle.abstract???
Multicellular organisms are generated by coordinated cell movements during morphogenesis. Convergent extension is a key tissue movement that organizes mesoderm, ectoderm, and endoderm in vertebrate embryos. The goals of researchers studying convergent extension, and morphogenesis in general, include understanding the molecular pathways that control cell identity, establish fields of cell types, and regulate cell behaviors. Cell identity, the size and boundaries of tissues, and the behaviors exhibited by those cells shape the developing embryo; however, there is a fundamental gap between understanding the molecular pathways that control processes within single cells and understanding how cells work together to assemble multicellular structures. Theoretical and experimental biomechanics of embryonic tissues are increasingly being used to bridge that gap. The efforts to map molecular pathways and the mechanical processes underlying morphogenesis are crucial to understanding: (1) the source of birth defects, (2) the formation of tumors and progression of cancer, and (3) basic principles of tissue engineering. In this paper, we first review the process of tissue convergent extension of the vertebrate axis and then review models used to study the self-organizing movements from a mechanical perspective. We conclude by presenting a relatively simple "wedge-model" that exhibits key emergent properties of convergent extension such as the coupling between tissue stiffness, cell intercalation forces, and tissue elongation forces.
Amonlirdviman,
Mathematical modeling of planar cell polarity to understand domineering nonautonomy.
2005, Pubmed
Amonlirdviman,
Mathematical modeling of planar cell polarity to understand domineering nonautonomy.
2005,
Pubmed
Beyer,
Multiscale modeling of cell mechanics and tissue organization.
2009,
Pubmed
Brodland,
Lamellipodium-driven tissue reshaping: a parametric study.
2006,
Pubmed
Brodland,
Do lamellipodia have the mechanical capacity to drive convergent extension?
2006,
Pubmed
Brodland,
The mechanics of heterotypic cell aggregates: insights from computer simulations.
2000,
Pubmed
Chen,
Multi-scale finite element modeling allows the mechanics of amphibian neurulation to be elucidated.
2008,
Pubmed
Chen,
Cell-level finite element studies of viscous cells in planar aggregates.
2000,
Pubmed
Chen,
Geometric control of cell life and death.
1997,
Pubmed
Cheng,
Deformation analyses in cell and developmental biology. Part I--Formal methodology.
1987,
Pubmed
Cheng,
Deformation analyses in cell and developmental biology. Part II--Mechanical experiments on cells.
1987,
Pubmed
Cheshire,
Kinetic and mechanical analysis of live tube morphogenesis.
2008,
Pubmed
Concha,
Oriented cell divisions and cellular morphogenesis in the zebrafish gastrula and neurula: a time-lapse analysis.
1998,
Pubmed
Cowin,
How is a tissue built?
2000,
Pubmed
Davidson,
Multi-scale mechanics from molecules to morphogenesis.
2009,
Pubmed
Davidson,
How do sea urchins invaginate? Using biomechanics to distinguish between mechanisms of primary invagination.
1995,
Pubmed
Davidson,
Neural tube closure in Xenopus laevis involves medial migration, directed protrusive activity, cell intercalation and convergent extension.
1999,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Davidson,
Integrin alpha5beta1 and fibronectin regulate polarized cell protrusions required for Xenopus convergence and extension.
2006,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Domingo,
Induction of notochord cell intercalation behavior and differentiation by progressive signals in the gastrula of Xenopus laevis.
1995,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Elul,
Monopolar protrusive activity: a new morphogenic cell behavior in the neural plate dependent on vertical interactions with the mesoderm in Xenopus.
2000,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Elul,
Cellular mechanism underlying neural convergent extension in Xenopus laevis embryos.
1997,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Engler,
Extracellular matrix elasticity directs stem cell differentiation.
2007,
Pubmed
Engler,
Matrix elasticity directs stem cell lineage specification.
2006,
Pubmed
Ezin,
The presumptive floor plate (notoplate) induces behaviors associated with convergent extension in medial but not lateral neural plate cells of Xenopus.
2006,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Ezin,
The midline (notochord and notoplate) patterns the cell motility underlying convergence and extension of the Xenopus neural plate.
2003,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Farhadifar,
The influence of cell mechanics, cell-cell interactions, and proliferation on epithelial packing.
2007,
Pubmed
Ghysels,
Multi-scale simulation of plant tissue deformation using a model for individual cell mechanics.
2009,
Pubmed
Gong,
Planar cell polarity signalling controls cell division orientation during zebrafish gastrulation.
2004,
Pubmed
Hardin,
Models of morphogenesis: the mechanisms and mechanics of cell rearrangement.
2004,
Pubmed
Hutson,
Mechanical aspects of developmental biology: perspectives on growth and form in the (post)-genomic age. Preface.
2008,
Pubmed
Ingber,
Mechanical control of tissue morphogenesis during embryological development.
2006,
Pubmed
Käfer,
Cell adhesion and cortex contractility determine cell patterning in the Drosophila retina.
2007,
Pubmed
Keller,
Mechanisms of elongation in embryogenesis.
2006,
Pubmed
Keller,
Regional expression, pattern and timing of convergence and extension during gastrulation of Xenopus laevis.
1988,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Keller,
The forces that shape embryos: physical aspects of convergent extension by cell intercalation.
2008,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Keller,
Shaping the vertebrate body plan by polarized embryonic cell movements.
2002,
Pubmed
Komiya,
Wnt signal transduction pathways.
2008,
Pubmed
Krieg,
Tensile forces govern germ-layer organization in zebrafish.
2008,
Pubmed
Kumar,
Mechanics, malignancy, and metastasis: the force journey of a tumor cell.
2009,
Pubmed
Lecuit,
"Developmental mechanics": cellular patterns controlled by adhesion, cortical tension and cell division.
2008,
Pubmed
Lecuit,
Cell surface mechanics and the control of cell shape, tissue patterns and morphogenesis.
2007,
Pubmed
Lopez,
Biomechanical regulation of cell orientation and fate.
2008,
Pubmed
Mori,
Wave-pinning and cell polarity from a bistable reaction-diffusion system.
2008,
Pubmed
Myers,
Convergence and extension in vertebrate gastrulae: cell movements according to or in search of identity?
2002,
Pubmed
Myers,
Bmp activity gradient regulates convergent extension during zebrafish gastrulation.
2002,
Pubmed
Ninomiya,
Epithelial coating controls mesenchymal shape change through tissue-positioning effects and reduction of surface-minimizing tension.
2008,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Pouille,
Mechanical signals trigger Myosin II redistribution and mesoderm invagination in Drosophila embryos.
2009,
Pubmed
Quintin,
Epithelial morphogenesis in embryos: asymmetries, motors and brakes.
2008,
Pubmed
Ramasubramanian,
Computational model for early cardiac looping.
2006,
Pubmed
Rauzi,
Nature and anisotropy of cortical forces orienting Drosophila tissue morphogenesis.
2008,
Pubmed
Rozario,
The physical state of fibronectin matrix differentially regulates morphogenetic movements in vivo.
2009,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Shih,
Patterns of cell motility in the organizer and dorsal mesoderm of Xenopus laevis.
1992,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Shih,
Cell motility driving mediolateral intercalation in explants of Xenopus laevis.
1992,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Shook,
Mechanisms, mechanics and function of epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in early development.
2003,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Solnica-Krezel,
Conserved patterns of cell movements during vertebrate gastrulation.
2005,
Pubmed
Vogel,
Cell fate regulation by coupling mechanical cycles to biochemical signaling pathways.
2009,
Pubmed
Voiculescu,
The amniote primitive streak is defined by epithelial cell intercalation before gastrulation.
2007,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
von Dassow,
Natural variation in embryo mechanics: gastrulation in Xenopus laevis is highly robust to variation in tissue stiffness.
2009,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Wagstaff,
Multicellular rosette formation during cell ingression in the avian primitive streak.
2008,
Pubmed
Wallingford,
Convergent extension: the molecular control of polarized cell movement during embryonic development.
2002,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Weliky,
Notochord morphogenesis in Xenopus laevis: simulation of cell behavior underlying tissue convergence and extension.
1991,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Weliky,
The mechanical basis of cell rearrangement. I. Epithelial morphogenesis during Fundulus epiboly.
1990,
Pubmed
Wilson,
Cell rearrangement and segmentation in Xenopus: direct observation of cultured explants.
1989,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Wilson,
Cell rearrangement during gastrulation of Xenopus: direct observation of cultured explants.
1991,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Wozniak,
Mechanotransduction in development: a growing role for contractility.
2009,
Pubmed
Xia,
Directional control of cell motility through focal adhesion positioning and spatial control of Rac activation.
2008,
Pubmed
Yin,
Cooperation of polarized cell intercalations drives convergence and extension of presomitic mesoderm during zebrafish gastrulation.
2008,
Pubmed
Zajac,
Simulating convergent extension by way of anisotropic differential adhesion.
2003,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
Zajac,
Model of convergent extension in animal morphogenesis.
2000,
Pubmed
Zallen,
Cell-pattern disordering during convergent extension in Drosophila.
2004,
Pubmed
Zhou,
Actomyosin stiffens the vertebrate embryo during crucial stages of elongation and neural tube closure.
2009,
Pubmed
,
Xenbase
