Campàs Lab
@campaslab.bsky.social
Physics of Embryonic Self-Organization and Morphogenesis. Tweets by Otger Campàs (Professor, Chair of Tissue Dynamics and Director
at the Physics of Life Excellence Cluster of TU Dresden)
at the Physics of Life Excellence Cluster of TU Dresden)
I want to finish by thanking Jesse @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social, his lab and my lab and Heidi and @ellensletten.bsky.social, for the outstanding and fun collaboration! It has been a blast! 😃 This is to many more to come 🍾🥂
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I want to finish by thanking Jesse @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social, his lab and my lab and Heidi and @ellensletten.bsky.social, for the outstanding and fun collaboration! It has been a blast! 😃 This is to many more to come 🍾🥂
Is this mechanism happening in vivo? We checked whether the key features of this physical mechanism of elongation, uniform cell proliferation and a posterior actin cap, are present in mouse embryos. And it seems they do!
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Is this mechanism happening in vivo? We checked whether the key features of this physical mechanism of elongation, uniform cell proliferation and a posterior actin cap, are present in mouse embryos. And it seems they do!
In a nutshell, the tissue expansion caused by cell proliferation is mechanically constrained by a supracellular actin cap that redirects the forces and guides axis elongation!
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
In a nutshell, the tissue expansion caused by cell proliferation is mechanically constrained by a supracellular actin cap that redirects the forces and guides axis elongation!
We used laser ablation to check if the bulk tissue underneath would expand when we ablate the surface actin… and it does in the posterior region where there is an actin cap! But not in the anterior side
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
We used laser ablation to check if the bulk tissue underneath would expand when we ablate the surface actin… and it does in the posterior region where there is an actin cap! But not in the anterior side
We found a supracellular actin accumulation at the tissue surface only on the posterior half of the gastruloid - a posterior actin cap. But, does this cap mechanically constrain expansion?
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
We found a supracellular actin accumulation at the tissue surface only on the posterior half of the gastruloid - a posterior actin cap. But, does this cap mechanically constrain expansion?
… cell divisions are oriented along the anteroposterior axis. But they are not…
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
… cell divisions are oriented along the anteroposterior axis. But they are not…
What about human gastruloids? You guessed it… exactly the same!
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
What about human gastruloids? You guessed it… exactly the same!
And if you inhibit proliferation, the forces decrease… Moreover, inhibition of myosin II leads to more elongation, the opposite of what you would expect from convergent extension
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
And if you inhibit proliferation, the forces decrease… Moreover, inhibition of myosin II leads to more elongation, the opposite of what you would expect from convergent extension
So, what is the origin of the forces driving body axis elongation? If oil droplets align along the AP axis, this reflects the active mediolateral stress typical of convergent extension. But we see the opposite in mouse gastruloids: droplets align perpendicular to the AP axis…
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
So, what is the origin of the forces driving body axis elongation? If oil droplets align along the AP axis, this reflects the active mediolateral stress typical of convergent extension. But we see the opposite in mouse gastruloids: droplets align perpendicular to the AP axis…
So, are the forces driving elongation caused by proliferation? To answer this, we use oil droplets to measure mechanical stresses in the gastruloids. However, we had to adapt our microdroplet techniques for gastruloids…
➡️ www.nature.com/articles/nme...
➡️ www.nature.com/articles/nme...
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
So, are the forces driving elongation caused by proliferation? To answer this, we use oil droplets to measure mechanical stresses in the gastruloids. However, we had to adapt our microdroplet techniques for gastruloids…
➡️ www.nature.com/articles/nme...
➡️ www.nature.com/articles/nme...
What’s more… if you inhibit cell proliferation in either mouse or human gastruloids, they not just form miniature gastruloids… they do not elongate! This means that elongation and growth are coupled
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
What’s more… if you inhibit cell proliferation in either mouse or human gastruloids, they not just form miniature gastruloids… they do not elongate! This means that elongation and growth are coupled
And in human gastruloids? It’s the same again!
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
And in human gastruloids? It’s the same again!
What causes gastruloid growth? You might have guessed cell proliferation, and you are right. Cell proliferation is everywhere, with uniform cell division density that remains constant over time
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
What causes gastruloid growth? You might have guessed cell proliferation, and you are right. Cell proliferation is everywhere, with uniform cell division density that remains constant over time
What happens in human? To check that, we developed a robust protocol for human gastruloids… and found exactly the same
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
What happens in human? To check that, we developed a robust protocol for human gastruloids… and found exactly the same
We found that their volume increases linearly during elongation. While their anterior end expands like a sphere, the gastruloid posterior end elongates like a cylinder of constant diameter… those familiar with convergent extension will find that weird
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
We found that their volume increases linearly during elongation. While their anterior end expands like a sphere, the gastruloid posterior end elongates like a cylinder of constant diameter… those familiar with convergent extension will find that weird
We first characterized the 3D morphodynamics of mouse gastruloids during elongation using our new analysis pipeline SpinePy @cryaaa.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
We first characterized the 3D morphodynamics of mouse gastruloids during elongation using our new analysis pipeline SpinePy @cryaaa.bsky.social
We resolved this by combining in vitro models of development, gastruloids, from Jesse’s lab @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social with the techniques to measure mechanics in living tissues that my lab developed
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
We resolved this by combining in vitro models of development, gastruloids, from Jesse’s lab @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social with the techniques to measure mechanics in living tissues that my lab developed
First of all, thanks and congratulations to our great joint graduate student Marc @mtrani.bsky.social, who led the efforts, and also to everyone else who helped! 🎉 You all rock!
Below is "short" thread explaining the main results 🧵
Below is "short" thread explaining the main results 🧵
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
First of all, thanks and congratulations to our great joint graduate student Marc @mtrani.bsky.social, who led the efforts, and also to everyone else who helped! 🎉 You all rock!
Below is "short" thread explaining the main results 🧵
Below is "short" thread explaining the main results 🧵
Really excited to present the results of a fantastic collaboration with Jesse Veenvliet @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @poldresden.bsky.social 🤩
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Really excited to present the results of a fantastic collaboration with Jesse Veenvliet @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @poldresden.bsky.social 🤩
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
At a personal level, I am really happy that enormous effort that went into this process was successful, and truly honored to lead such an outstanding team. It took years of hard work to build the team and now we have the opportunity to take our Physics of Life to the next level. Let do this!
May 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM
At a personal level, I am really happy that enormous effort that went into this process was successful, and truly honored to lead such an outstanding team. It took years of hard work to build the team and now we have the opportunity to take our Physics of Life to the next level. Let do this!
We did it! 🎉 🍾🥂
Our Excellence Cluster Physics of Life (PoL) got renewed until 2032! I am so proud of our team and all the great work we did to achieve this.
Our Excellence Cluster Physics of Life (PoL) got renewed until 2032! I am so proud of our team and all the great work we did to achieve this.
May 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM
We did it! 🎉 🍾🥂
Our Excellence Cluster Physics of Life (PoL) got renewed until 2032! I am so proud of our team and all the great work we did to achieve this.
Our Excellence Cluster Physics of Life (PoL) got renewed until 2032! I am so proud of our team and all the great work we did to achieve this.
In addition, we found that posterior body elongation is largely unaffected despite substantial changes in the relative movements between tissues in different mutants. This may be due to active mechanisms of coordination between tissues.
March 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
In addition, we found that posterior body elongation is largely unaffected despite substantial changes in the relative movements between tissues in different mutants. This may be due to active mechanisms of coordination between tissues.
We then perturbed dorsal tissues using vangl2 mutants that perturb convergent extension flows. We found that this perturbation affects substantially the elongation speed of the body axis, despite the main characteristics of morphogenetic flows being similar to wild type.
March 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
We then perturbed dorsal tissues using vangl2 mutants that perturb convergent extension flows. We found that this perturbation affects substantially the elongation speed of the body axis, despite the main characteristics of morphogenetic flows being similar to wild type.
Removing the notochord using floating head (noto) mutants did not affect the posterior elongation speed either, despite again changing substantially morphogenetic flows in ventral tissues.
March 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Removing the notochord using floating head (noto) mutants did not affect the posterior elongation speed either, despite again changing substantially morphogenetic flows in ventral tissues.
We discovered that the well-known spadetail phenotype is associated with a more rigid posterior tissue, caused by an increase in N-cadherin and a decrease in tension fluctuations.
March 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
We discovered that the well-known spadetail phenotype is associated with a more rigid posterior tissue, caused by an increase in N-cadherin and a decrease in tension fluctuations.