Autocrine inhibition of cell motility can drive epithelial branching morphogenesis in the absence of growth.

ABSTRACT: Epithelial branching morphogenesis drives the development of organs such as the lung, salivary gland, kidney and the mammary gland. It involves cell proliferation, cell differentiation and cell migration. An elaborate network of chemical and mechanical signals between the epithelium and the surrounding mesenchymal tissues regulates the formation and growth of branching organs. Surprisingly, when cultured in isolation from mesenchymal tissues, many epithelial tissues retain the ability to exhibit branching morphogenesis even in the absence of proliferation. In this work, we propose a simple, experimentally plausible mechanism that can drive branching morphogenesis in the absence of proliferation and cross-talk with the surrounding mesenchymal tissue. The assumptions of our mathematical mode

SUBMITTER: Rens EG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7423378 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature