Improving the understanding of cytoneme-mediated morphogen gradients by in silico modeling.

ABSTRACT: Morphogen gradients are crucial for the development of organisms. The biochemical properties of many morphogens prevent their extracellular free diffusion, indicating the need of an active mechanism for transport. The involvement of filopodial structures (cytonemes) has been proposed for morphogen signaling. Here, we describe an in silico model based on the main general features of cytoneme-meditated gradient formation and its implementation into Cytomorph, an open software tool. We have tested the spatial and temporal adaptability of our model quantifying Hedgehog (Hh) gradient formation in two Drosophila tissues. Cytomorph is able to reproduce the gradient and explain the different scaling between the two epithelia. After experimental validation, we studied the predicted impact of a rang

SUBMITTER: Aguirre-Tamaral A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8362982 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature