Morphomechanics: goals, basic experiments and models

Beloussov, L. V.; Grabovsky, Vassily I.

doi:10.1387/ijdb.052056lb

Cited by 62 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Integrating these observations led to the HR hypothesis, which has been used to explain in qualitative terms a number of simple, as well as relatively complex, morphogenetic processes (Beloussov 1998(Beloussov , 2008Beloussov et al 1994. Moreover, mathematical models based on this idea have yielded some promising results (Belintsev et al 1987;Beloussov & Grabovsky 2006;Taber 2008;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a unified theory for morphomechanics

Taber

2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mechanical forces are closely involved in the construction of an embryo. Experiments have suggested that mechanical feedback plays a role in regulating these forces, but the nature of this feedback is poorly understood. Here, we propose a general principle for the mechanics of morphogenesis, as governed by a pair of evolution equations based on feedback from tissue stress. In one equation, the rate of growth (or contraction) depends on the difference between the current tissue stress and a target (homeostatic) stress. In the other equation, the target stress changes at a rate that depends on the same stress difference. The parameters in these morphomechanical laws are assumed to depend on stress rate. Computational models are used to illustrate how these equations can capture a relatively wide range of behaviours observed in developing embryos, as well as show the limitations of this theory. Specific applications include growth of pressure vessels (e.g. the heart, arteries and brain), wound healing and sea urchin gastrulation. Understanding the fundamental principles of tissue construction can help engineers design new strategies for creating replacement tissues and organs in vitro.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a unified theory for morphomechanics

Taber

2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By culturing human mesenchymal stem cells on elastic substrates with controllable stiffness, Engler et al (2006) were able to direct cells towards osteogenic, neurogenic and myogenic fates with decreasing stiffness. Similarly, in vivo studies of fruit fly and amphibian development show how high levels of mechanical strain can trigger cell differentiation (Beloussov & Grabovsky, 2006;Brodland et al, 1994). In the developing Drosophila embryo, gene expression is initiated by mechanical deformation (Farge, 2003), and in vitro studies of human mesenchymal stem cells suggest that certain transcription factors are sensitive to changes in mechanical forces such as stiffness of the growth substrate (Fu et al, 2010).…”

Section: The Explanatory Power Of Macroscale Biomechanicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biology meets physics: Reductionism and multi-scale modeling of morphogenesis

Green

Batterman

2017

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A common reductionist assumption is that macro-scale behaviors can be described "bottom-up" if only sufficient details about lower-scale processes are available. The view that an "ideal" or "fundamental" physics would be sufficient to explain all macro-scale phenomena has been met with criticism from philosophers of biology. Specifically, scholars have pointed to the impossibility of deducing biological explanations from physical ones, and to the irreducible nature of distinctively biological processes such as gene regulation and evolution. This paper takes a step back in asking whether bottom-up modeling is feasible even when modeling simple physical systems across scales. By comparing examples of multi-scale modeling in physics and biology, we argue that the "tyranny of scales" problem presents a challenge to reductive explanations in both physics and biology. The problem refers to the scale-dependency of physical and biological behaviors that forces researchers to combine different models relying on different scale-specific mathematical strategies and boundary conditions. Analyzing the ways in which different models are combined in multi-scale modeling also has implications for the relation between physics and biology. Contrary to the assumption that physical science approaches provide reductive explanations in biology, we exemplify how inputs from physics often reveal the importance of macro-scale models and explanations. We illustrate this through an examination of the role of biomechanics modeling in developmental biology. In such contexts, the relation between models at different scales and from different disciplines is neither reductive nor completely autonomous, but interdependent.

show abstract

“…All models presented in this paper are based on Beloussov's Hyper-restoration Hypothesis (Beloussov, 1998;Beloussov et al, 1994;Beloussov and Grabovsky, 2006). The models are relatively simple and phenomenological in nature, but they are based rigorously on the fundamental principles of nonlinear solid mechanics.…”

Section: Primary Ingredients Of the Hyper-restoration Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beloussov has postulated that mechanical stress plays a key role in regulating morphogenesis. Based on more than three decades of observations and experiments on embryos, he has proposed the following Hyper-restoration (HR) Hypothesis (Beloussov, 1998;Beloussov et al, 1994;Beloussov and Grabovsky, 2006): Whenever a change is produced in the amount of local stress applied to a cell or local region of tissue, the cells or tissue will respond by actively generating forces directed toward the restoration of the initial stress value, but as a rule overshooting it. Whenever such changes in stress are unevenly distributed or are anisotropic, then the responses induced will be directed toward reducing (with an overshoot) whichever deviations were greatest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some attempts have been made to formulate the HR Hypothesis in quantitative terms (Belintsev et al, 1987;Beloussov and Grabovsky, 2006;Beloussov and Grabovsky, 2007), most of the supporting evidence is qualitative in nature. For example, Beloussov and colleagues have used tissue dissection to map regions of tension and compression in embryos (Beloussov et al, 1975;Beloussov et al, 1990;Beloussov et al, 2000;Beloussov, 1998;Beloussov et al, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Theoretical study of Beloussov’s hyper-restoration hypothesis for mechanical regulation of morphogenesis

Taber

2007

Biomech Model Mechanobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Computational models were used to explore the idea that morphogenesis is regulated, in part, by feedback from mechanical stress according to Beloussov's Hyper-restoration (HR) Hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, active tissue responses to stress perturbations restore, but overshoot, the original (target) stress. To capture this behavior, the rate of growth or contraction is assumed to depend on the difference between the current and target stresses. Stress overshoot is obtained by letting the target stress change at a rate proportional to the same stress difference. The feasibility of the HR Hypothesis is illustrated by models for stretching of epithelia, cylindrical bending of plates, invagination of cylindrical and spherical shells, and early amphibian development. In each case, an initial perturbation leads to an active mechanical response that changes the form of the tissue. The results show that some morphogenetic processes can be entirely self-driven by HR responses once they are initiated (possibly by genetic activity). Other processes, however, may require secondary mechanisms or perturbations to proceed to completion.

show abstract

Morphomechanics: goals, basic experiments and models

Cited by 62 publications

References 51 publications

Towards a unified theory for morphomechanics

Towards a unified theory for morphomechanics

Biology meets physics: Reductionism and multi-scale modeling of morphogenesis

Theoretical study of Beloussov’s hyper-restoration hypothesis for mechanical regulation of morphogenesis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About