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A computer simulation tool for the growth of epithelial tissue is developed

By 11 de October de 2011November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 11.10.2011

A computer simulation tool for the growth of epithelial tissue is developed

Researchers from the Theoretical and In Silico Modelling of Biological Systems (The.Si.M.Bio.Sys.GROUP) group of the Co.S.Mo.LAB – located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– and the School of Chemistry and Physics of the University of Barcelona (UB) have succeeded in developing a computer simulation tool that reproduces, in a quantitative and predictive manner, the mechanics and dynamics of growing epithelial tissues. The study, which occupies the front cover of the latest issue of the PLoS Computational Biology Journal (doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002153), provides new data for understanding how different cell populations are segregated during embryonic development to properly form an adult organism.


The work has been led by physicist, Javier Buceta, group leader at the.Si.M.Bio.Sys.GROUP, with the collaboration of scientists Oriol Canela-Xandri (first author of the paper), during his predoctoral stay in the group; Jaume Casademunt, Department of Structure and Constituents of Matter; and Francesc Sagués, Department of Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry and Physics of the UB.

One of the current challenges of developmental biology is to decipher the mechanisms that control migration, segregation, and cell compartmentalization and how they act on cell populations so that these group together correctly during embryonic development to form tissues and organs.

The researchers studied these mechanisms by in silico experimentation in a case experimentally well-characterized in vivo: the imaginal disc of the wing of the Drosophila melanogaster, the structure that gives rise to the adult wing of the fruit fly.

In the Drosophila imaginal disc cells that give rise to the dorsal and ventral parts of the wing never mix. A cell population, called the “organizer”, controls this process. It has been shown, experimentally, that its growth is very different to that of the cell populations of both compartments.

The aim of Buceta´s study was to decipher by means of computer modelling techniques, the particular mechanical and morphogenetic characteristics of this cell population which acts as stable barrier to prevent mixing of the cell populations that generate the dorsal and ventral parts of the wing blade.

What are the mechanical properties of these cells to become an “effective barriers”? Why doesn´t their growth follow an isotropic pattern as in dorsal and ventral cell populations?

To answer these and other questions, scientists developed a tissue simulation code that implements the necessary and sufficient conditions to reproduce in silico the dynamic stability and mechanical properties of the organizer.

The authors of the study used a dynamic vertex model that depicts the forces acting on cells with stochastic variability (random), taking into account parameters such as aggregation, cell division cycle duration, the response to ablation and resistance to mechanical disturbances. Their results provided highly relevant data on the influence of the mechanics of the cytoskeleton, cell cycle and growth and cell interactions on the functioning and structure of the organizer.

“There are other computational tools and simulation codes of tissue growth, but our tool incorporates crucial elements for the growth of this type of tissue very realistically. For example, we took into account the variability that occurs in nature with respect to cell cycle duration as well as the direction of division. Now, in a second part, we will also be incorporating genetics. The ultimate goal is to get a mechanogenetic simulation tool to study the ‘evolution of epithelial tissue growth “- said Javier Buceta.

The results of this study highlight some key mechanisms to achieve a proper segregation in Drosophila tissues, which may have implications in similar processes in humans, while providing data, unknown until now, to gain further insight into severe disease related to improper segregation of cell populations.

“Animal models, such as Drosophila melanogaster, are very akin to our reality from a biological standpoint. Therefore, understanding the key mechanisms that play a role in their development also means understanding these mechanisms in humans “- said Buceta.