What drives biased tube elongation in lung and kidney organogenesis?
During lung and kidney development epithelial tubes elongate more than they widen. How this bias in outgrowth is achieved remained unclear. In a unique study combining theoretical analysis with experimental work and numerical simulations, researchers from the group led by Dagmar Iber find that the elongation of the tube structure in these organs is likely driven by fluid-flow-induced shear stress.
Find external page original article in the journal Development.
Read the interview: external page The people behind the papers – Lisa Conrad, Steve Runser, Roman Vetter and Dagmar Iber
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Learn about the Computational Biology group led by Dagmar Iber.
Fluid flow (arrows) from tip to base in the lumen (green) of developing lungs causes shear stress levels strong enough to be sensed by epithelial cells (magenta), giving them a direction in which to preferentially grow. This discovery provides a new explanation for the stereotypical directional bias in tube outgrowth observed during the development of branched organs such as lungs and kidneys.