---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '19703'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: An enlarged brain underlies the complex central nervous system of vertebrates.
    The dramatic expansion of the brain that diverges its shape from the spinal cord
    follows neural tube closure during embryonic development. Here, we show that this
    differential deformation is encoded by a pre-pattern of tissue material properties
    in chicken embryos. Using magnetic droplets and atomic force microscopy, we demonstrate
    that the dorsal hindbrain is more fluid than the dorsal spinal cord, resulting
    in a thinning versus a resisting response to increasing lumen pressure, respectively.
    The dorsal hindbrain exhibits reduced apical actin and a disorganized laminin
    matrix consistent with tissue fluidization. Blocking the activity of neural-crest-associated
    matrix metalloproteinases inhibits hindbrain expansion. Transplanting dorsal hindbrain
    cells to the spinal cord can locally create an expanded brain-like morphology
    in some cases. Our findings raise questions in vertebrate head evolution and suggest
    a general role of mechanical pre-patterning in sculpting epithelial tubes.
acknowledgement: 'We thank A. Dimitracopoulos, K. Kawaguchi, J. Vidigueira, B. Baum,
  I. McLaren, D. St Johnston, and members of the Buckley, Scarpa, Steventon, Kawaguchi,
  and Xiong labs for technical assistance and constructive feedback. We thank Ryan
  Greenhalgh for methods developed to obtain fluidity values from AFM data. We thank
  Nicola Lawrence, Alex Sossick, and Sargon Gross-Thebing from the Gurdon Institute
  Imaging Facility for microscopy support. Funding: this work was supported by a Wellcome
  Trust/Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (215439/Z/19/Z) and UKRI-EPSRC Frontier
  Research Grant (EP/X023761/1, originally selected as an ERC Starting Grant) to F.X.;
  an ERC Consolidator Grant (772426), ERC Synergy Grant 101118729 UNFOLD, and Alexander
  von Humboldt Professorship ( Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) to K.F.; and an
  ERC Starting Grant (851288) to E.H.'
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Susannah B.P.
  full_name: Mclaren, Susannah B.P.
  last_name: Mclaren
- first_name: Shi-lei
  full_name: Xue, Shi-lei
  id: 31D2C804-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Xue
- first_name: Siyuan
  full_name: Ding, Siyuan
  last_name: Ding
- first_name: Alexander K.
  full_name: Winkel, Alexander K.
  last_name: Winkel
- first_name: Oscar
  full_name: Baldwin, Oscar
  last_name: Baldwin
- first_name: Shreya
  full_name: Dwarakacherla, Shreya
  last_name: Dwarakacherla
- first_name: Kristian
  full_name: Franze, Kristian
  last_name: Franze
- first_name: Edouard B
  full_name: Hannezo, Edouard B
  id: 3A9DB764-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Hannezo
  orcid: 0000-0001-6005-1561
- first_name: Fengzhu
  full_name: Xiong, Fengzhu
  last_name: Xiong
citation:
  ama: Mclaren SBP, Xue S, Ding S, et al. Differential tissue deformability underlies
    fluid pressure-driven shape divergence of the avian embryonic brain and spinal
    cord. <i>Developmental Cell</i>. 2025;60(17):2237-2247.e4. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010">10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010</a>
  apa: Mclaren, S. B. P., Xue, S., Ding, S., Winkel, A. K., Baldwin, O., Dwarakacherla,
    S., … Xiong, F. (2025). Differential tissue deformability underlies fluid pressure-driven
    shape divergence of the avian embryonic brain and spinal cord. <i>Developmental
    Cell</i>. Elsevier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010</a>
  chicago: Mclaren, Susannah B.P., Shi-lei Xue, Siyuan Ding, Alexander K. Winkel,
    Oscar Baldwin, Shreya Dwarakacherla, Kristian Franze, Edouard B Hannezo, and Fengzhu
    Xiong. “Differential Tissue Deformability Underlies Fluid Pressure-Driven Shape
    Divergence of the Avian Embryonic Brain and Spinal Cord.” <i>Developmental Cell</i>.
    Elsevier, 2025. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010</a>.
  ieee: S. B. P. Mclaren <i>et al.</i>, “Differential tissue deformability underlies
    fluid pressure-driven shape divergence of the avian embryonic brain and spinal
    cord,” <i>Developmental Cell</i>, vol. 60, no. 17. Elsevier, p. 2237–2247.e4,
    2025.
  ista: Mclaren SBP, Xue S, Ding S, Winkel AK, Baldwin O, Dwarakacherla S, Franze
    K, Hannezo EB, Xiong F. 2025. Differential tissue deformability underlies fluid
    pressure-driven shape divergence of the avian embryonic brain and spinal cord.
    Developmental Cell. 60(17), 2237–2247.e4.
  mla: Mclaren, Susannah B. P., et al. “Differential Tissue Deformability Underlies
    Fluid Pressure-Driven Shape Divergence of the Avian Embryonic Brain and Spinal
    Cord.” <i>Developmental Cell</i>, vol. 60, no. 17, Elsevier, 2025, p. 2237–2247.e4,
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010">10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010</a>.
  short: S.B.P. Mclaren, S. Xue, S. Ding, A.K. Winkel, O. Baldwin, S. Dwarakacherla,
    K. Franze, E.B. Hannezo, F. Xiong, Developmental Cell 60 (2025) 2237–2247.e4.
date_created: 2025-05-18T22:02:50Z
date_published: 2025-09-08T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-12-29T14:58:14Z
day: '08'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: EdHa
doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2025.04.010
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  isi:
  - '001570502100005'
  pmid:
  - '40347948'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: 1ca6f0822c1cbd430686d5e2a4f96401
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2025-12-29T13:45:05Z
  date_updated: 2025-12-29T13:45:05Z
  file_id: '20872'
  file_name: 2025_DevelopmentalCell_McLaren.pdf
  file_size: 12564806
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2025-12-29T13:45:05Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        60'
isi: 1
issue: '17'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 2237-2247.e4
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 05943252-7A3F-11EA-A408-12923DDC885E
  call_identifier: H2020
  grant_number: '851288'
  name: Design Principles of Branching Morphogenesis
publication: Developmental Cell
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1878-1551
  issn:
  - 1534-5807
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Differential tissue deformability underlies fluid pressure-driven shape divergence
  of the avian embryonic brain and spinal cord
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 60
year: '2025'
...