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The mechanics of neurulation: Insights from a whole‐embryo computational model
Author(s) -
Brodland G. Wayne,
Chen Xiaoguang
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a199-a
Subject(s) - neurulation , constitutive equation , embryo , finite element method , biology , mechanics , engineering , microbiology and biotechnology , structural engineering , physics , embryogenesis , gastrulation
The mechanics of amphibian neurulation is explored using a new whole‐embryo finite element model. The initial geometry of the model was generated from 3D surface reconstructions of live embryos obtained using a robotic microscope and from serial sections of fixed embryos. Material properties were obtained from micro‐mechanical testing, and observed regional and temporal variations in these properties were assumed to be the consequence of gene expression. These mechanical properties along with active driving forces generated by convergent extension and other mechanisms were represented through a system of cell‐based constitutive equations. The model was implemented using custom‐written software and as it ran, it predicted how an embryo with a particular initial geometry, specific base mechanical properties and given patterns of gene expression would deform over time. The model shows that regions where Shroom, chordin and PCP are expressed have distinctive mechanical properties and that these properties are crucial to neural tube closure. The model also reveals that neurulation can be disrupted by relatively minor changes in gene expression and by a number of other physiologically relevant factors. This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).