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www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#DevBio #Mechanobiology #Biophysics

⚡️Overall, we find that the pluripotent embryo can change its morphogenetic trajectory based on the type of material state phase transitions it undergoes.

⚡️This suggests that phase transitions are not simple modulators of tissue deformability, but actively impact the tissue morphogenetic potential.

7/ The discretization of tissue morphologies driven by the phase transition control parameters is also reflected at the molecular level: When adhesion-driven solidification is uncoupled from jamming, tissues form lumens and acquire epithelial polarity.

6/ Simulations and experiments show how by uncoupling vs. coupling changes in cell density and adhesion, tissues dramatically change their morphology. This is mainly due to a porous to non-porous transition, occurring at the adhesion critical point as tricellular junctions close.

5/ By measuring tissue viscosity and cell contact dynamics, we find that adhesion alone determines the material state. If the critical point in adhesion is crossed, the tissue will be solid-like, independently of cell density. Then, what’s the importance of the other parameters?

4/ We establish #optogenetic and pharmacological tools to experimentally engineer pluripotent tissues to undergo material phase transitions using different combinations of the control parameters. How does each parameter contribute to tissue rheology?

3/ We study this in the pluripotent #zebrafish early embryo, where three parameters – cell adhesion, density, and connectivity – shift together during a fluidization transition, crossing their respective critical points. But can these parameters be uncoupled?

2/ Unlike inert materials, living tissues transition between fluid and solid states by dynamically tuning a variety of control parameters, like cell shape, adhesion and density. Does this multiplicity of control parameters matter for biological function?

1/ We investigate how the way that a tissue transitions from a fluid- to a solid-like material state - an essential process in development, wound healing, and disease - can impact its organization at the morphological and even molecular level.