Epithelial bending for organ formation: forces, molecular signals, and novel ensemble cell behaviours

Speaker:  Professor Jeremy Green, Centre for Craniofacial Biology & Regeneration, King’s College London.Time: 1-2pm

Host: Claudia Linker

Abstract: Epithelial bending is a fundamental process of developmental morphogenesis from the earliest stages of gastrulation to the final stages of organogenesis. Classically, epithelia bend by cell-autonomous shape changes such as apical constriction or wedging. In principle, this is not the only way a sheet of cells can bend itself. We have investigated invagination of epithelia to form mouse tooth buds, hair follicles, mammary ducts and salivary glands. A novel family of cell-on-cell migration-driven epithelial bending mechanisms will be presented, including some of the signals and forces involved. These findings reveal cell-behavioural mechanisms underpinning both similarities and differences in these evolutionarily diversified epithelial organs and highlight a global framework for the analysis of morphogenesis that lends itself to quantification.