Related papers: Oscillations in a neurite growth model with extrac…
The development of new techniques to quantitatively measure gene expression in cells has shed light on a number of systems that display oscillations in protein concentration. Here we review the different mechanisms which can produce…
Animal cells in tissues are supported by biopolymer matrices, which typically exhibit highly nonlinear mechanical properties. While the linear elasticity of the matrix can significantly impact cell mechanics and functionality, it remains…
Neurites, the long cellular protrusions that form the routes of the neuronal network are capable to actively extend during early morphogenesis or to regenerate after trauma. To perform this task, they rely on their cytoskeleton for…
Control of the cytoskeleton and mechanical contacts with the extracellular environment are essential component of motility in eukaryotic cells. In the absence of signals, cells continuously rebuild the cytoskeleton and periodically extend…
How extracellular electric fields, as generated endogenously or through transcranial brain stimulation, affect the dynamics of large neuronal populations is of great interest but not well understood. To study the collective dynamics of…
Identifying the mechanism of intercellular feedback regulation is critical for the basic understanding of tissue growth control in organisms. In this paper, we analyze a tissue growth model consisting of a single lineage of two cell types…
The microtubule cytoskeleton is comprised of dynamic, polarized filaments that facilitate transport within the cell. Polarized microtubule arrays are key to facilitating cargo transport in long cells such as neurons. Microtubules also…
Designing synthetic microenvironments for cellular investigations is a very active area of research at the crossroads of cell biology and materials science. The present work describes the design and functionalization of a three-dimensional…
The presence of noise in non linear dynamical systems can play a constructive role, increasing the degree of order and coherence or evoking improvements in the performance of the system. An example of this positive influence in a biological…
The processes that determine the establishment of the complex morphology of neurons during development are still poorly understood. We present experiments that use live imaging to examine the role of vesicle transport and propose a…
Controlling growth via cell division is crucial in the development of higher organisms, and yet the mechanisms through which this is achieved, e.g., in epithelial tissue, is not yet fully understood. We show that by coupling the cell cycle…
Protrusions at the leading-edge of a cell play an important role in sensing the extracellular cues, during cellular spreading and motility. Recent studies provided indications that these protrusions wrap (coil) around the extra-cellular…
We examine the dynamical evolution of the state of a neurone, with particular care to the non-equilibrium nature of the forces influencing its movement in state space. We combine non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and dynamical systems…
Neurological injuries predominantly result in loss of functioning of neurons. These neurons may regain function after particular medical therapeutics, such as Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), that promote axon elongation by manipulating the…
Cell proliferation, apoptosis, and myosin-dependent contraction can generate elastic stress and strain in living tissues, which may be dissipated by internal rearrangement through cell topological transition and cytoskeletal reorganization.…
Investigations over half a century have indicated that mechanical forces induce neurite growth - with neurites elongating at a rate of 0.1-0.3{\mu}mh^{-1} per pico-Newton (pN) of applied force - when mechanical tension exceeds a threshold,…
Gene expression is a biochemical process, where stochastic binding and un-binding events naturally generate fluctuations and cell-to-cell variability in gene dynamics. These fluctuations typically have destructive consequences for proper…
Cilia and flagella are hair-like extensions of eukaryotic cells which generate oscillatory beat patterns that can propel micro-organisms and create fluid flows near cellular surfaces. The evolutionary highly conserved core of cilia and…
Recent experiments in various cell types have shown that two-dimensional tissues often display local nematic order, with evidence of extensile stresses manifest in the dynamics of topological defects. Using a mesoscopic model where tissue…
Rhythmic and sequential segmentation of the embryonic body plan is a vital developmental patterning process in all vertebrate species. However, a theoretical framework capturing the emergence of dynamic patterns of gene expression from the…