Cell behaviours during 3D tube formation

Abstract: How cell sheets give rise to complex three-dimensional structures, such as tubes, is an exciting open question in morphogenesis. Many previous studies have oversimplified the problem by reducing a highly three-dimensional process to two-dimensions. Thus, the 3D cell behaviors underlying tubulogenesis have been ignored and its contribution has been neglected.

During this webinar, we will discuss how we have developed a combination of live imaging and computational tools to identify and characterize 3D cell behaviors involved in tubular morphogenesis. We started analyzing the salivary gland development in Drosophila embryo because it shares many of the molecular components reported in more complex systems and its development is easily tractable. Our preliminary quantification of tissue and cell tensors suggest that in addition to apical constriction, there are other phenomena occurring at the cell-level when the 3D context is taken into account.

Thus, this work is likely to provide new insights into the 3D cell behaviors underlying morphogenesis of tubular organs.