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SUMMARY:Cell-level modelling of active forces in early-stage development -
  Rastko Sknepnek\, University of Dundee
DTSTART:20251125T130000Z
DTEND:20251125T140000Z
UID:TALK238966@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Tal Agranov
DESCRIPTION:Gastrulation\, the early stage of embryonic development\, is a
 n essential\, highly conserved process in the development of all vertebrat
 e embryos\, including humans. During gastrulation\, the embryo transforms 
 from a single layer of epithelial cells into a three-layered structure of 
 three major embryonic cell types\, the ectoderm\, the mesoderm and endoder
 m\, in a process involving large scale cell and tissue movements. When not
  executed properly\, it causes abortion of development and\, in milder cas
 es\, leads to a wide range of congenital defects. The cellular mechanisms 
 controlling gastrulation\, when activated in the wrong place or at the wro
 ng time\, result in severe disease in adult life\, such as cancer and malf
 unctioning of the immune system. Gastrulation requires the integration of 
 critical cell behaviours such as cell differentiation\, division\, and mov
 ement through chemical and mechanical cell-cell signalling\, to achieve th
 e morphogenesis essential for proper functions. These interactions between
  signalling and cell behaviours create complex feedback loops between tiss
 ue\, cell\, and molecular length- and timescales that have evolved to enab
 le the robust formation of complex multi-cellular structures. In this talk
 \, using the vertex model for cell-level description of epithelial tissues
 \, we will discuss how various forms of active processes\, such as mechano
 -chemical feedback\, cell growth\, division\, ingression\, etc. couple to 
 cell mechanics and lead to pattern formation and flows in model tissues. W
 e will also make qualitative comparisons to the primitive steak formation 
 (i.e. the gastrulation) in chick embryos.
LOCATION:Center for Mathematical Sciences\, Lecture room MR4.
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