Curvature strains as a global orchestrator of morphogenesis

Abstract

Successful morphogenesis on the scale of organs or organisms requires strict coordination between the constituent cells whose action on the local scale must be orchestrated accurately to achieve a functional shape on the global scale. We present a theoretical model in which morphogenetic information is encoded only through a locally preferred curvature, but with cell dynamics which simultaneously ensures that these interactions globally achieve morphogenesis and correct cell-neighbor exchanges to avoid cell stretches. This is achieved by a cell-cell interaction potential that drives correct cell intercalation to reorganize the cell sheet dynamically during the deformation processes. We demonstrate morphogenesis of simple three-dimensional shapes and study the effects of fixed cell neighbor connectivity and noisy cell division.