Mechanical Regulation of Three-Dimensional Epithelial Fold Pattern Formation in the Mouse Oviduct.

ABSTRACT: Epithelia exhibit various three-dimensional morphologies linked to organ function in animals. However, the mechanisms of three-dimensional morphogenesis remain elusive. The luminal epithelium of the mouse oviduct forms well-aligned straight folds along the longitudinal direction of the tubes. Disruption of the Celsr1 gene, a planar cell polarity-related gene, causes ectopically branched folds. Here, we evaluated the mechanical contributions of the epithelium to the fold pattern formation. In the mutant oviduct, the epithelium was more intricate along the longitudinal direction than in the wild-type, suggesting a higher ratio of the longitudinal length of the epithelial layer to that of the surrounding smooth muscle (SM) layer (L-Epi/SM ratio). Our mathematical modeling and computational si

SUBMITTER: Koyama H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4982937 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature