TY - JOUR

T1 - The physics of organoids

T2 - a biophysical approach to understanding organogenesis

AU - Dahl-Jensen, Svend

AU - Grapin-Botton, Anne

N1 - © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

PY - 2017/3/15

Y1 - 2017/3/15

N2 - Organoids representing a diversity of tissues have recently been created, bridging the gap between cell culture and experiments performed in vivo Being small and amenable to continuous monitoring, they offer the opportunity to scrutinize the dynamics of organ development, including the exciting prospect of observing aspects of human embryo development live. From a physicist's perspective, their ability to self-organize - to differentiate and organize cells in space - calls for the identification of the simple rules that underlie this capacity. Organoids provide tractable conditions to investigate the effects of the growth environment, including its molecular composition and mechanical properties, along with the initial conditions such as cell number and type(s). From a theoretical standpoint, different types of in silico modeling can complement the measurements performed in organoids to understand the role of chemical diffusion, contact signaling, differential cell adhesion and mechanical controls. Here, we discuss what it means to take a biophysical approach to understanding organogenesis in vitro and how we might expect such approaches to develop in the future.

AB - Organoids representing a diversity of tissues have recently been created, bridging the gap between cell culture and experiments performed in vivo Being small and amenable to continuous monitoring, they offer the opportunity to scrutinize the dynamics of organ development, including the exciting prospect of observing aspects of human embryo development live. From a physicist's perspective, their ability to self-organize - to differentiate and organize cells in space - calls for the identification of the simple rules that underlie this capacity. Organoids provide tractable conditions to investigate the effects of the growth environment, including its molecular composition and mechanical properties, along with the initial conditions such as cell number and type(s). From a theoretical standpoint, different types of in silico modeling can complement the measurements performed in organoids to understand the role of chemical diffusion, contact signaling, differential cell adhesion and mechanical controls. Here, we discuss what it means to take a biophysical approach to understanding organogenesis in vitro and how we might expect such approaches to develop in the future.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1242/dev.143693

DO - 10.1242/dev.143693

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28292839

VL - 144

SP - 946

EP - 951

JO - Development

JF - Development

SN - 0950-1991

IS - 6

ER -