Correlating Mechanical and Gene Expression Data on the Single Cell Level to Investigate Metastasis

Abstract

one of the most striking processes of cell sheet folding: Through inwards folding at the equator of the initially spherical cell sheet adopts a mushroom shape and eventually turns itself entirely inside-out through an anterior opening [1]. These global deformations are driven by several waves of active cell shape changes [2, 3]. A combination of advanced imaging and computational analyses is used to explore the role of tissue contractility in the occurring invagination and involution. The associated internal stresses as well as the elastic properties of the dynamic cell sheet are determined through laser ablation experiments [manuscript in preparation].