TY - JOUR AB - As developing tissues grow in size and undergo morphogenetic changes, their material properties may be altered. Such changes result from tension dynamics at cell contacts or cellular jamming. Yet, in many cases, the cellular mechanisms controlling the physical state of growing tissues are unclear. We found that at early developmental stages, the epithelium in the developing mouse spinal cord maintains both high junctional tension and high fluidity. This is achieved via a mechanism in which interkinetic nuclear movements generate cell area dynamics that drive extensive cell rearrangements. Over time, the cell proliferation rate declines, effectively solidifying the tissue. Thus, unlike well-studied jamming transitions, the solidification uncovered here resembles a glass transition that depends on the dynamical stresses generated by proliferation and differentiation. Our finding that the fluidity of developing epithelia is linked to interkinetic nuclear movements and the dynamics of growth is likely to be relevant to multiple developing tissues. AU - Bocanegra, Laura AU - Singh, Amrita AU - Hannezo, Edouard B AU - Zagórski, Marcin P AU - Kicheva, Anna ID - 12837 JF - Nature Physics SN - 1745-2473 TI - Cell cycle dynamics control fluidity of the developing mouse neuroepithelium VL - 19 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Intercellular signaling molecules, known as morphogens, act at a long range in developing tissues to provide spatial information and control properties such as cell fate and tissue growth. The production, transport, and removal of morphogens shape their concentration profiles in time and space. Downstream signaling cascades and gene regulatory networks within cells then convert the spatiotemporal morphogen profiles into distinct cellular responses. Current challenges are to understand the diverse molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying morphogen gradient formation, as well as the logic of downstream regulatory circuits involved in morphogen interpretation. This knowledge, combining experimental and theoretical results, is essential to understand emerging properties of morphogen-controlled systems, such as robustness and scaling. AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Briscoe, James ID - 14484 JF - Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology SN - 1081-0706 TI - Control of tissue development by morphogens VL - 39 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Despite its fundamental importance for development, the question of how organs achieve their correct size and shape is poorly understood. This complex process requires coordination between the generation of cell mass and the morphogenetic mechanisms that sculpt tissues. These processes are regulated by morphogen signalling pathways and mechanical forces. Yet, in many systems, it is unclear how biochemical and mechanical signalling are quantitatively interpreted to determine the behaviours of individual cells and how they contribute to growth and morphogenesis at the tissue scale. In this review, we discuss the development of the vertebrate neural tube and somites as an example of the state of knowledge, as well as the challenges in understanding the mechanisms of tissue size control in vertebrate organogenesis. We highlight how the recent advances in stem cell differentiation and organoid approaches can be harnessed to provide new insights into this question. AU - Minchington, Thomas AU - Rus, Stefanie AU - Kicheva, Anna ID - 13136 JF - Current Opinion in Systems Biology TI - Control of tissue dimensions in the developing neural tube and somites VL - 35 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The way in which interactions between mechanics and biochemistry lead to the emergence of complex cell and tissue organization is an old question that has recently attracted renewed interest from biologists, physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists. Rapid advances in optical physics, microscopy and computational image analysis have greatly enhanced our ability to observe and quantify spatiotemporal patterns of signalling, force generation, deformation, and flow in living cells and tissues. Powerful new tools for genetic, biophysical and optogenetic manipulation are allowing us to perturb the underlying machinery that generates these patterns in increasingly sophisticated ways. Rapid advances in theory and computing have made it possible to construct predictive models that describe how cell and tissue organization and dynamics emerge from the local coupling of biochemistry and mechanics. Together, these advances have opened up a wealth of new opportunities to explore how mechanochemical patterning shapes organismal development. In this roadmap, we present a series of forward-looking case studies on mechanochemical patterning in development, written by scientists working at the interface between the physical and biological sciences, and covering a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, organisms, and modes of development. Together, these contributions highlight the many ways in which the dynamic coupling of mechanics and biochemistry shapes biological dynamics: from mechanoenzymes that sense force to tune their activity and motor output, to collectives of cells in tissues that flow and redistribute biochemical signals during development. AU - Lenne, Pierre François AU - Munro, Edwin AU - Heemskerk, Idse AU - Warmflash, Aryeh AU - Bocanegra, Laura AU - Kishi, Kasumi AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Long, Yuchen AU - Fruleux, Antoine AU - Boudaoud, Arezki AU - Saunders, Timothy E. AU - Caldarelli, Paolo AU - Michaut, Arthur AU - Gros, Jerome AU - Maroudas-Sacks, Yonit AU - Keren, Kinneret AU - Hannezo, Edouard B AU - Gartner, Zev J. AU - Stormo, Benjamin AU - Gladfelter, Amy AU - Rodrigues, Alan AU - Shyer, Amy AU - Minc, Nicolas AU - Maître, Jean Léon AU - Di Talia, Stefano AU - Khamaisi, Bassma AU - Sprinzak, David AU - Tlili, Sham ID - 9349 IS - 4 JF - Physical biology TI - Roadmap for the multiscale coupling of biochemical and mechanical signals during development VL - 18 ER - TY - JOUR AB - All vertebrates have a spinal cord with dimensions and shape specific to their species. Yet how species‐specific organ size and shape are achieved is a fundamental unresolved question in biology. The formation and sculpting of organs begins during embryonic development. As it develops, the spinal cord extends in anterior–posterior direction in synchrony with the overall growth of the body. The dorsoventral (DV) and apicobasal lengths of the spinal cord neuroepithelium also change, while at the same time a characteristic pattern of neural progenitor subtypes along the DV axis is established and elaborated. At the basis of these changes in tissue size and shape are biophysical determinants, such as the change in cell number, cell size and shape, and anisotropic tissue growth. These processes are controlled by global tissue‐scale regulators, such as morphogen signaling gradients as well as mechanical forces. Current challenges in the field are to uncover how these tissue‐scale regulatory mechanisms are translated to the cellular and molecular level, and how regulation of distinct cellular processes gives rise to an overall defined size. Addressing these questions will help not only to achieve a better understanding of how size is controlled, but also of how tissue size is coordinated with the specification of pattern. AU - Kuzmicz-Kowalska, Katarzyna AU - Kicheva, Anna ID - 7883 JF - Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Developmental Biology SN - 17597684 TI - Regulation of size and scale in vertebrate spinal cord development ER - TY - JOUR AB - Cell division, movement and differentiation contribute to pattern formation in developing tissues. This is the case in the vertebrate neural tube, in which neurons differentiate in a characteristic pattern from a highly dynamic proliferating pseudostratified epithelium. To investigate how progenitor proliferation and differentiation affect cell arrangement and growth of the neural tube, we used experimental measurements to develop a mechanical model of the apical surface of the neuroepithelium that incorporates the effect of interkinetic nuclear movement and spatially varying rates of neuronal differentiation. Simulations predict that tissue growth and the shape of lineage-related clones of cells differ with the rate of differentiation. Growth is isotropic in regions of high differentiation, but dorsoventrally biased in regions of low differentiation. This is consistent with experimental observations. The absence of directional signalling in the simulations indicates that global mechanical constraints are sufficient to explain the observed differences in anisotropy. This provides insight into how the tissue growth rate affects cell dynamics and growth anisotropy and opens up possibilities to study the coupling between mechanics, pattern formation and growth in the neural tube. AU - Guerrero, Pilar AU - Perez-Carrasco, Ruben AU - Zagórski, Marcin P AU - Page, David AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Briscoe, James AU - Page, Karen M. ID - 7165 IS - 23 JF - Development SN - 0950-1991 TI - Neuronal differentiation influences progenitor arrangement in the vertebrate neuroepithelium VL - 146 ER - TY - CHAP AB - Developmental processes are inherently dynamic and understanding them requires quantitative measurements of gene and protein expression levels in space and time. While live imaging is a powerful approach for obtaining such data, it is still a challenge to apply it over long periods of time to large tissues, such as the embryonic spinal cord in mouse and chick. Nevertheless, dynamics of gene expression and signaling activity patterns in this organ can be studied by collecting tissue sections at different developmental stages. In combination with immunohistochemistry, this allows for measuring the levels of multiple developmental regulators in a quantitative manner with high spatiotemporal resolution. The mean protein expression levels over time, as well as embryo-to-embryo variability can be analyzed. A key aspect of the approach is the ability to compare protein levels across different samples. This requires a number of considerations in sample preparation, imaging and data analysis. Here we present a protocol for obtaining time course data of dorsoventral expression patterns from mouse and chick neural tube in the first 3 days of neural tube development. The described workflow starts from embryo dissection and ends with a processed dataset. Software scripts for data analysis are included. The protocol is adaptable and instructions that allow the user to modify different steps are provided. Thus, the procedure can be altered for analysis of time-lapse images and applied to systems other than the neural tube. AU - Zagórski, Marcin P AU - Kicheva, Anna ID - 37 SN - 1064-3745 T2 - Morphogen Gradients TI - Measuring dorsoventral pattern and morphogen signaling profiles in the growing neural tube VL - 1863 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Facial shape is the basis for facial recognition and categorization. Facial features reflect the underlying geometry of the skeletal structures. Here, we reveal that cartilaginous nasal capsule (corresponding to upper jaw and face) is shaped by signals generated by neural structures: brain and olfactory epithelium. Brain-derived Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) enables the induction of nasal septum and posterior nasal capsule, whereas the formation of a capsule roof is controlled by signals from the olfactory epithelium. Unexpectedly, the cartilage of the nasal capsule turned out to be important for shaping membranous facial bones during development. This suggests that conserved neurosensory structures could benefit from protection and have evolved signals inducing cranial cartilages encasing them. Experiments with mutant mice revealed that the genomic regulatory regions controlling production of SHH in the nervous system contribute to facial cartilage morphogenesis, which might be a mechanism responsible for the adaptive evolution of animal faces and snouts. AU - Kaucka, Marketa AU - Petersen, Julian AU - Tesarova, Marketa AU - Szarowska, Bara AU - Kastriti, Maria AU - Xie, Meng AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Annusver, Karl AU - Kasper, Maria AU - Symmons, Orsolya AU - Pan, Leslie AU - Spitz, Francois AU - Kaiser, Jozef AU - Hovorakova, Maria AU - Zikmund, Tomas AU - Sunadome, Kazunori AU - Matise, Michael P AU - Wang, Hui AU - Marklund, Ulrika AU - Abdo, Hind AU - Ernfors, Patrik AU - Maire, Pascal AU - Wurmser, Maud AU - Chagin, Andrei S AU - Fried, Kaj AU - Adameyko, Igor ID - 162 JF - eLife TI - Signals from the brain and olfactory epithelium control shaping of the mammalian nasal capsule cartilage VL - 7 ER - TY - GEN AB - Facial shape is the basis for facial recognition and categorization. Facial features reflect the underlying geometry of the skeletal structures. Here we reveal that cartilaginous nasal capsule (corresponding to upper jaw and face) is shaped by signals generated by neural structures: brain and olfactory epithelium. Brain-derived Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) enables the induction of nasal septum and posterior nasal capsule, whereas the formation of a capsule roof is controlled by signals from the olfactory epithelium. Unexpectedly, the cartilage of the nasal capsule turned out to be important for shaping membranous facial bones during development. This suggests that conserved neurosensory structures could benefit from protection and have evolved signals inducing cranial cartilages encasing them. Experiments with mutant mice revealed that the genomic regulatory regions controlling production of SHH in the nervous system contribute to facial cartilage morphogenesis, which might be a mechanism responsible for the adaptive evolution of animal faces and snouts. AU - Kaucka, Marketa AU - Petersen, Julian AU - Tesarova, Marketa AU - Szarowska, Bara AU - Kastriti, Maria Eleni AU - Xie, Meng AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Annusver, Karl AU - Kasper, Maria AU - Symmons, Orsolya AU - Pan, Leslie AU - Spitz, Francois AU - Kaiser, Jozef AU - Hovorakova, Maria AU - Zikmund, Tomas AU - Sunadome, Kazunori AU - Matise, Michael P AU - Wang, Hui AU - Marklund, Ulrika AU - Abdo, Hind AU - Ernfors, Patrik AU - Maire, Pascal AU - Wurmser, Maud AU - Chagin, Andrei S AU - Fried, Kaj AU - Adameyko, Igor ID - 9838 TI - Data from: Signals from the brain and olfactory epithelium control shaping of the mammalian nasal capsule cartilage ER - TY - JOUR AB - The interface of physics and biology pro-vides a fruitful environment for generatingnew concepts and exciting ways forwardto understanding living matter. Examplesof successful studies include the estab-lishment and readout of morphogen gra-dients during development, signal pro-cessing in protein and genetic networks,the role of fluctuations in determining thefates of cells and tissues, and collectiveeffects in proteins and in tissues. It is nothard to envision that significant further ad-vances will translate to societal benefitsby initiating the development of new de-vices and strategies for curing disease.However, research at the interface posesvarious challenges, in particular for youngscientists, and current institutions arerarely designed to facilitate such scientificprograms. In this Letter, we propose aninternational initiative that addressesthese challenges through the establish-ment of a worldwide network of platformsfor cross-disciplinary training and incuba-tors for starting new collaborations. AU - Bauer, Guntram AU - Fakhri, Nikta AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Kondev, Jané AU - Kruse, Karsten AU - Noji, Hiroyuki AU - Riveline, Daniel AU - Saunders, Timothy AU - Thatta, Mukund AU - Wieschaus, Eric ID - 314 IS - 4 JF - Cell Systems TI - The science of living matter for tomorrow VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR AB - In November 2016, developmental biologists, synthetic biologists and engineers gathered in Paris for a meeting called ‘Engineering the embryo’. The participants shared an interest in exploring how synthetic systems can reveal new principles of embryonic development, and how the in vitro manipulation and modeling of development using stem cells can be used to integrate ideas and expertise from physics, developmental biology and tissue engineering. As we review here, the conference pinpointed some of the challenges arising at the intersection of these fields, along with great enthusiasm for finding new approaches and collaborations. AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Rivron, Nicolas ID - 654 IS - 5 JF - Development SN - 09501991 TI - Creating to understand – developmental biology meets engineering in Paris VL - 144 ER - TY - JOUR AB - By applying methods and principles from the physical sciences to biological problems, D'Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form demonstrated how mathematical reasoning reveals elegant, simple explanations for seemingly complex processes. This has had a profound influence on subsequent generations of developmental biologists. We discuss how this influence can be traced through twentieth century morphologists, embryologists and theoreticians to current research that explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms of tissue growth and patterning, including our own studies of the vertebrate neural tube. AU - Briscoe, James AU - Kicheva, Anna ID - 685 JF - Mechanisms of Development SN - 09254773 TI - The physics of development 100 years after D'Arcy Thompson's “on growth and form” VL - 145 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Like many developing tissues, the vertebrate neural tube is patterned by antiparallel morphogen gradients. To understand how these inputs are interpreted, we measured morphogen signaling and target gene expression in mouse embryos and chick ex vivo assays. From these data, we derived and validated a characteristic decoding map that relates morphogen input to the positional identity of neural progenitors. Analysis of the observed responses indicates that the underlying interpretation strategy minimizes patterning errors in response to the joint input of noisy opposing gradients. We reverse-engineered a transcriptional network that provides a mechanistic basis for the observed cell fate decisions and accounts for the precision and dynamics of pattern formation. Together, our data link opposing gradient dynamics in a growing tissue to precise pattern formation. AU - Zagórski, Marcin P AU - Tabata, Yoji AU - Brandenberg, Nathalie AU - Lutolf, Matthias AU - Tkacik, Gasper AU - Bollenbach, Tobias AU - Briscoe, James AU - Kicheva, Anna ID - 943 IS - 6345 JF - Science SN - 00368075 TI - Decoding of position in the developing neural tube from antiparallel morphogen gradients VL - 356 ER - TY - JOUR AB - In the vertebrate neural tube, the morphogen Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) establishes a characteristic pattern of gene expression. Here we quantify the Shh gradient in the developing mouse neural tube and show that while the amplitude of the gradient increases over time, the activity of the pathway transcriptional effectors, Gli proteins, initially increases but later decreases. Computational analysis of the pathway suggests three mechanisms that could contribute to this adaptation: transcriptional upregulation of the inhibitory receptor Ptch1, transcriptional downregulation of Gli and the differential stability of active and inactive Gli isoforms. Consistent with this, Gli2 protein expression is downregulated during neural tube patterning and adaptation continues when the pathway is stimulated downstream of Ptch1. Moreover, the Shh-induced upregulation of Gli2 transcription prevents Gli activity levels from adapting in a different cell type, NIH3T3 fibroblasts, despite the upregulation of Ptch1. Multiple mechanisms therefore contribute to the intracellular dynamics of Shh signalling, resulting in different signalling dynamics in different cell types. AU - Cohen, Michael H AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Ribeiro, Ana C AU - Blassberg, Robert A AU - Page, Karen M AU - Barnes, Chris P AU - Briscoe, James ID - 1728 JF - Nature Communications TI - Ptch1 and Gli regulate Shh signalling dynamics via multiple mechanisms VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The development of a functional tissue requires coordination of the amplification of progenitors and their differentiation into specific cell types. The molecular basis for this coordination during myotome ontogeny is not well understood. Dermomytome progenitors that colonize the myotome first acquire myocyte identity and subsequently proliferate as Pax7-expressing progenitors before undergoing terminal differentiation. We show that the dynamics of sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling is crucial for this transition in both avian and mouse embryos. Initially, Shh ligand emanating from notochord/floor plate reaches the dermomyotome, where it both maintains the proliferation of dermomyotome cells and promotes myogenic differentiation of progenitors that colonized the myotome. Interfering with Shh signaling at this stage produces small myotomes and accumulation of Pax7-expressing progenitors. An in vivo reporter of Shh activity combined with mouse genetics revealed the existence of both activator and repressor Shh activities operating on distinct subsets of cells during the epaxial myotomal maturation. In contrast to observations in mice, in avians Shh promotes the differentiation of both epaxial and hypaxial myotome domains. Subsequently, myogenic progenitors become refractory to Shh; this is likely to occur at the level of, or upstream of, smoothened signaling. The end of responsiveness to Shh coincides with, and is thus likely to enable, the transition into the growth phase of the myotome. AU - Kahane, Nitza AU - Ribes, Vanessa AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Briscoe, James AU - Kalcheim, Chaya ID - 1726 IS - 8 JF - Development TI - The transition from differentiation to growth during dermomyotome-derived myogenesis depends on temporally restricted hedgehog signaling VL - 140 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Cells at different positions in a developing tissue receive different concentrations of signaling molecules, called morphogens, and this influences their cell fate. Morphogen concentration gradients have been proposed to control patterning as well as growth in many developing tissues. Some outstanding questions about tissue patterning by morphogen gradients are the following: What are the mechanisms that regulate gradient formation and shape? Is the positional information encoded in the gradient sufficiently precise to determine the positions of target gene domain boundaries? What are the temporal dynamics of gradients and how do they relate to patterning and growth? These questions are inherently quantitative in nature and addressing them requires measuring morphogen concentrations in cells, levels of downstream signaling activity, and kinetics of morphogen transport. Here we first present methods for quantifying morphogen gradient shape in which the measurements can be calibrated to reflect actual morphogen concentrations. We then discuss using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching to study the kinetics of morphogen transport at the tissue level. Finally, we present particle tracking as a method to study morphogen intracellular trafficking. AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Holtzer, Laurent AU - Wartlick, Ortrud AU - Schmidt, Thomas S AU - González-Gaitán, Marcos A ID - 1727 IS - 5 JF - Cold Spring Harbor Protocols TI - Quantitative imaging of morphogen gradients in drosophila imaginal discs VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The spatial organization of cell fates during development involves the interpretation of morphogen gradients by cellular signaling cascades and transcriptional networks. Recent studies use biophysical models, genetics, and quantitative imaging to unravel how tissue-level morphogen behavior arises from subcellular events. Moreover, data from several systems show that morphogen gradients, downstream signaling, and the activity of cell-intrinsic transcriptional networks change dynamically during pattern formation. Studies from Drosophila and now also vertebrates suggest that transcriptional network dynamics are central to the generation of gene expression patterns. Together, this leads to the view that pattern formation is an emergent behavior that results from the coordination of events occurring across molecular, cellular, and tissue scales. The development of novel approaches to study this complex process remains a challenge. AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Cohen, Michael H AU - Briscoe, James ID - 1725 IS - 6104 JF - Science TI - Developmental pattern formation: Insights from physics and biology VL - 338 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Morphogen gradients regulate the patterning and growth of many tissues, hence a key question is how they are established and maintained during development. Theoretical descriptions have helped to explain how gradient shape is controlled by the rates of morphogen production, spreading and degradation. These effective rates have been measured using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and photoactivation. To unravel which molecular events determine the effective rates, such tissue-level assays have been combined with genetic analysis, high-resolution assays, and models that take into account interactions with receptors, extracellular components and trafficking. Nevertheless, because of the natural and experimental data variability, and the underlying assumptions of transport models, it remains challenging to conclusively distinguish between cellular mechanisms. AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Bollenbach, Mark Tobias AU - Wartlick, Ortrud AU - Julicher, Frank AU - Gonzalez Gaitan, Marcos ID - 2970 IS - 6 JF - Current Opinion in Genetics & Development TI - Investigating the principles of morphogen gradient formation: from tissues to cells VL - 22 ER - TY - JOUR AB - The emergence of differences in the arrangement of cells is the first step towards the establishment of many organs. Understanding this process is limited by the lack of systematic characterization of epithelial organisation. Here we apply network theory at the scale of individual cells to uncover patterns in cell-to-cell contacts that govern epithelial organisation. We provide an objective characterisation of epithelia using network representation, where cells are nodes and cell contacts are links. The features of individual cells, together with attributes of the cellular network, produce a defining signature that distinguishes epithelia from different organs, species, developmental stages and genetic conditions. The approach permits characterization, quantification and classification of normal and perturbed epithelia, and establishes a framework for understanding molecular mechanisms that underpin the architecture of complex tissues. AU - Escudero, Luis M AU - Costa, Luciano AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Briscoe, James AU - Freeman, Matthew AU - Babu, Madan M ID - 1723 IS - 1 JF - Nature Communications TI - Epithelial organisation revealed by a network of cellular contacts VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Morphogens, such as Decapentaplegic (Dpp) in the fly imaginal discs, form graded concentration profiles that control patterning and growth of developing organs. In the imaginal discs, proliferative growth is homogeneous in space, posing the conundrum of how morphogen concentration gradients could control position-independent growth. To understand the mechanism of proliferation control by the Dpp gradient, we quantified Dpp concentration and signaling levels during wing disc growth. Both Dpp concentration and signaling gradients scale with tissue size during development. On average, cells divide when Dpp signaling levels have increased by 50%. Our observations are consistent with a growth control mechanism based on temporal changes of cellular morphogen signaling levels. For a scaling gradient, this mechanism generates position-independent growth rates. AU - Wartlick, Ortrud AU - Mumcu, Peer AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Bittig, Thomas AU - Seum, Carole AU - Jülicher, Frank AU - González-Gaitán, Marcos A ID - 1724 IS - 6021 JF - Science TI - Dynamics of Dpp signaling and proliferation control VL - 331 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Morphogens are secreted signalling molecules that act in a graded manner to control the pattern of cellular differentiation in developing tissues. An example is Sonic hedgehog (Shh), which acts in several developing vertebrate tissues, including the central nervous system, to provide positional information during embryonic patterning. Here we address how Shh signalling assigns the positional identities of distinct neuronal subtype progenitors throughout the ventral neural tube. Assays of intracellular signal transduction and gene expression indicate that the duration as well as level of signalling is critical for morphogen interpretation. Progenitors of the ventral neuronal subtypes are established sequentially, with progressively more ventral identities requiring correspondingly higher levels and longer periods of Shh signalling. Moreover, cells remain sensitive to changes in Shh signalling for an extended time, reverting to antecedent identities if signalling levels fall below a threshold. Thus, the duration of signalling is important not only for the assignment but also for the refinement and maintenance of positional identity. Together the data suggest a dynamic model for ventral neural tube patterning in which positional information corresponds to the time integral of Shh signalling. This suggests an alternative to conventional models of morphogen action that rely solely on the level of signalling. AU - Dessaud, Éric AU - Ribes, Vanessa AU - Balaskas, Nikolaos AU - Yang, Linlin AU - Pierani, Alessandra AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Novitch, Bennett AU - Briscoe, James AU - Sasai, Noriaki ID - 1722 IS - 6 JF - PLoS Biology TI - Dynamic assignment and maintenance of positional identity in the ventral neural tube by the morphogen sonic hedgehog VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Briscoe, James ID - 1721 IS - 7 JF - PLoS Biology TI - Limbs made to measure VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Morphogens act as graded positional cues to control cell fate specification in many developing tissues. This concept, in which a signaling gradient regulates differential gene expression in a concentration-dependent manner, has received considerable experimental support. Nevertheless, several recent studies have challenged the straightforward model of morphogen activity. In particular, the observation that pattern formation is a dynamic process has raised questions about the influence of time on morphogen activity. Here we propose that the spatiotemporal dynamics of the cellular response to a morphogen gradient depend on a combination of temporal alterations to the morphogen gradient itself, the dynamics of its signal transduction and downstream interactions between target genes. AU - Kutějová, Eva AU - Briscoe, James AU - Anna Kicheva ID - 1718 IS - 4 JF - Current Opinion in Genetics & Development TI - Temporal dynamics of patterning by morphogen gradients VL - 19 ER - TY - JOUR AB - How morphogen gradients are formed in target tissues is a key question for understanding the mechanisms of morphological patterning. Here, we review different mechanisms of morphogen gradient formation from theoretical and experimental points of view. First, a simple, comprehensive overview of the underlying biophysical principles of several mechanisms of gradient formation is provided. We then discuss the advantages and limitations of different experimental approaches to gradient formation analysis. AU - Wartlick, Ortrud AU - Anna Kicheva AU - González-Gaitán, Marcos A ID - 1720 IS - 3 JF - Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology TI - Morphogen gradient formation VL - 1 ER - TY - JOUR AB - We study the mechanics of tissue growth via cell division and cell death (apoptosis). The rearrangements of cells can on large scales and times be captured by a continuum theory which describes the tissue as an effective viscous material with active stresses generated by cell division. We study the effects of anisotropies of cell division on cell rearrangements and show that average cellular trajectories exhibit anisotropic scaling behaviors. If cell division and apoptosis balance, there is no net growth, but for anisotropic cell division the tissue undergoes spontaneous shear deformations. Our description is relevant for the study of developing tissues such as the imaginal disks of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, which grow anisotropically. AU - Bittig, Thomas AU - Wartlick, Ortrud AU - Anna Kicheva AU - González-Gaitárr, Marcos AU - Julicher, Frank ID - 1719 JF - New Journal of Physics TI - Dynamics of anisotropic tissue growth VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Two key processes are in the basis of morphogenesis: the spatial allocation of cell types in fields of naïve cells and the regulation of growth. Both are controlled by morphogens, which activate target genes in the growing tissue in a concentration-dependent manner. Thus the morphogen model is an intrinsically quantitative concept. However, quantitative studies were performed only in recent years on two morphogens: Bicoid and Decapentaplegic. This review covers quantitative aspects of the formation and precision of the Decapentaplegic morphogen gradient. The morphogen gradient concept is transitioning from a soft definition to a precise idea of what the gradient could really do. AU - Anna Kicheva AU - González-Gaitán, Marcos A ID - 1717 IS - 2 JF - Current Opinion in Cell Biology TI - The Decapentaplegic morphogen gradient a precise definition VL - 20 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Morphogen concentration gradients provide positional information by activating target genes in a concentration-dependent manner. Recent reports show that the gradient of the syncytial morphogen Bicoid seems to provide precise positional information to determine target gene domains. For secreted morphogenetic ligands, the precision of the gradients, the signal transduction and the reliability of target gene expression domains have not been studied. Here we investigate these issues for the TGF-beta-type morphogen Dpp. We first studied theoretically how cell-to-cell variability in the source, the target tissue, or both, contribute to the variations of the gradient. Fluctuations in the source and target generate a local maximum of precision at a finite distance to the source. We then determined experimentally in the wing epithelium: (1) the precision of the Dpp concentration gradient; (2) the precision of the Dpp signaling activity profile; and (3) the precision of activation of the Dpp target gene spalt. As captured by our theoretical description, the Dpp gradient provides positional information with a maximal precision a few cells away from the source. This maximal precision corresponds to a positional uncertainly of about a single cell diameter. The precision of the Dpp gradient accounts for the precision of the spalt expression range, implying that Dpp can act as a morphogen to coarsely determine the expression pattern of target genes. AU - Bollenbach, Tobias AU - Pantazis, Periklis AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Bokel, Christian AU - González-Gaitán, Marcos AU - Julicher, Frank ID - 4227 IS - 6 JF - Development TI - Precision of the Dpp gradient VL - 135 ER - TY - JOUR AB - In the developing fly wing, secreted morphogens such as Decapentaplegic (Dpp) and Wingless (Wg) form gradients of concentration providing positional information. Dpp forms a longer-range gradient than Wg. To understand how the range is controlled, we measured the four key kinetic parameters governing morphogen spreading: the production rate, the effective diffusion coefficient, the degradation rate, and the immobile fraction. The four parameters had different values for Dpp versus Wg. In addition, Dynamin-dependent endocytosis was required for spreading of Dpp, but not Wg. Thus, the cellular mechanisms of Dpp and Wingless spreading are different: Dpp spreading requires endocytic, intracellular trafficking. AU - Anna Kicheva AU - Pantazis, Periklis AU - Bollenbach, Tobias AU - Kalaidzidis, Yannis AU - Bittig, Thomas AU - Julicher, Frank AU - Gonzalez-Gaitan, Marcos ID - 4226 IS - 5811 JF - Science TI - Kinetics of morphogen gradient formation VL - 315 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Background: Cell-to-cell communication at the synapse involves synaptic transmission as well as signaling mediated by growth factors, which provide developmental and plasticity cues. There is evidence that a retrograde, presynaptic transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling event regulates synapse development and function in Drosophila. Results: Here we show that a postsynaptic TGF-β signaling event occurs during larval development. The type I receptor Thick veins (Tkv) and the R-Smad transcription factor Mothers-against-dpp (Mad) are localized postsynaptically in the muscle. Furthermore, Mad phosphorylation occurs in regions facing the presynaptic active zones of neurotransmitter release within the postsynaptic subsynaptic reticulum (SSR). In order to monitor in real time the levels of TGF-β signaling in the synapse during synaptic transmission, we have established a FRAP assay to measure Mad nuclear import/export in the muscle. We show that Mad nuclear trafficking depends on stimulation of the muscle. Conclusions: Our data suggest a mechanism linking synaptic transmission and postsynaptic TGF-β signaling that may coordinate nerve-muscle development and function. AU - Dudu, Veronika AU - Bittig, Thomas AU - Entchev, Eugeni AU - Kicheva, Anna AU - Julicher, Frank AU - González Gaitán, Marcos ID - 1715 IS - 7 JF - Current Biology TI - Postsynaptic mad signaling at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction VL - 16 ER -