Related papers: mRNA active transport in oocyte-early embryo: 3D a…
Life in complex systems, such as cities and organisms, comes to a standstill when global coordination of mass, energy, and information flows is disrupted. Global coordination is no less important in single cells, especially in large oocytes…
We propose a 2D mechanical model of the ventral furrow formation in Drosophila that is based on undifferentiated epithelial cells of identical properties whose energy resides in their membrane. Depending on the relative tensions of the…
We introduce and analyze a class of neural network models motivated by the Drosophila central complex nervous system, designed to capture the emergence and dynamics of orientation-selective activity bumps. Starting from a biologically…
Current in vivo microscopy allows us detailed spatiotemporal imaging (3D+t) of complete organisms and offers insights into their development on the cellular level. Even though the imaging speed and quality is steadily improving,…
Morphogenesis is the process whereby the body of an organism develops its target shape. The morphogen BMP is known to play a conserved role across bilaterian organisms in determining the dorsoventral (DV) axis. Yet, how BMP governs the…
We present a general theoretical framework to discuss mechanisms of morphogen transport and gradient formation in a cell layer. Trafficking events on the cellular scale lead to transport on larger scales. We discuss in particular the case…
Cytoskeletal networks, which are essentially motor-filament assemblies, play a major role in many developmental processes involving structural remodeling and shape changes. These are achieved by nonequilibrium self-organization processes…
Expression of the Drosophila segment polarity genes is initiated by a prepattern of pair-rule gene products and maintained by a network of regulatory interactions throughout several stages of embryonic development. Analysis of a model of…
Large scale motion of cytoplasm called cytoplasmic streaming occurs in some large eukaryotic cells to stir the cell's constituents. In Drosophila oocytes, microtubules have been observed to undergo undulating motion, curving to form…
We examine immunostaining experimental data for the formation of the strip 2 of $even-skipped$ ($eve$) transcripts on $D.$ $melanogaster$ embryos. An estimate of the factor converting immunofluorescence intensity units into molecular…
Eukaryotic cell motility involves a complex network of interactions between biochemical components and mechanical processes. The cell employs this network to polarize and induce shape changes that give rise to membrane protrusions and…
Long-distance bidirectional transport of organelles depends on the motor proteins kinesin and dynein. Using quantitative data obtained from a fungal model system, we previously developed ASEP-models of bidirectional motion of motors along…
Within developing embryos, tissues flow and reorganize dramatically on timescales as short as minutes. This includes epithelial tissues, which often narrow and elongate in convergent extension movements due to anisotropies in external…
We study the role of microtubule movement in bidirectional organelle transport in Drosophila S2 cells and show that EGFP-tagged peroxisomes in cells serve as sensitive probes of motor induced, noisy cytoskeletal motions. Multiple…
In multicellular organisms, patterns of gene expression are established in response to gradients of signaling molecules. During fly development in early Drosophila embryos, the Bicoid (Bcd) morphogen gradient is established within the first…
Neurodegenerative diseases are among the leading causes of global mortality, characterized by the progressive deterioration of specific neuron populations, ultimately leading to cognitive decline and dementia. Extracellular vesicles (EVs)…
Cells are strongly out-of-equilibrium systems driven by continuous energy supply. They carry out many vital functions requiring active transport of various ingredients and organelles, some being small, others being large. The cytoskeleton,…
Intracellular transport of large cargoes, such as organelles, vesicles or large proteins, is a complex dynamical process that involves the interplay of ATP-consuming molecular motors, cytoskeleton filaments and the viscoelastic cytoplasm.…
Microtubules and motor proteins self organize into biologically important assemblies including the mitotic spindle and the centrosomal microtubule array. Outside of cells, microtubule-motor mixtures can form novel active liquid-crystalline…
During organogenesis, developmental programs governed by Gene Regulatory Networks (GRN) define the functionality, size and shape of the different constituents of living organisms. Robustness, thus, is an essential characteristic that GRNs…