Category Archives: Newly published

Mechanical control of mesenchymal-to-epithelial transitions.

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Newly Published: T. R. Jackson, H. Y. Kim, U. L. Balakrishnan, C. Stuckenholz, and L. A. Davidson (2017). Spatiotemporally controlled mechanical cues drive progenitor mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition enabling proper heart formation and function. Current Biology. 27: 1326–1335.

Describes a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) in heart progenitor cells that is regulated by temporally specific mechanical cues originating from the endoderm. Accelerating or delaying MET by manipulating the mechanical microenvironment of the heart-forming region leads to abnormal heart anatomy
and function.

Actomyosin meshwork mechanosensing enables tissue shape to orient cell force.

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Newly Published: Chanet, S., Miller, C. J., Vaishnav, E. D., Ermentrout, B., Davidson, L. A. and Martin, A. C. (2017). Actomyosin meshwork mechanosensing enables tissue shape to orient cell force. Nature Communications 8. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fncomms15014

“Sculpting organism shape requires that cells produce forces with proper directionality. Thus, it is critical to understand how cells orient the cytoskeleton to produce forces that deform tissues.”

Mechanical design in embryos: mechanical signaling, robustness, and developmental defects.

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Newly Published: Davidson, L. A. (2017). Mechanical design in embryos: mechanical signalling, robustness and developmental defects. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 372, 20150516.

‘Embryology and morphology cannot proceed independently of all reference to the general laws of matter, to the laws of physics and of mechanics’.

—W. His in a letter to Professor Sir William Turner (1888) On the principles of animal morphology. Proc. R. Soc. Edinb. 15, 287–298.

Xenopus as a model for studies in mechanical stress and cell division.

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Newly Published: Stooke‐Vaughan, G., Davidson, L. and Woolner, S. (2017). Xenopus as a model for studies in mechanical stress and cell division. Genesis. – “We exist in a physical world, and cells within biological tissues must respond appropriately to both environmental forces and forces generated within the tissue to ensure normal development and homeostasis.  …”

Mechanics of neurulation: from classical to current perspectives on the physical mechanics that shape, fold, and form the neural tube.

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brda-review-of-neurulation

New review published:  Vijayraghavan, D. S. and Davidson, L. A. (2016). Mechanics of neurulation: from classical to current perspectives on the physical mechanics that shape, fold, and form the neural tube. Birth defects research. Part A, Clinical and molecular teratology. DOI: 10.1002/bdra.23557 .

SWNTS in embryos! Single-wall carbon nanotubes in early Xenopus embryos

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Two new publications with collaborators Brian Holt and Drs. Mohammad Islam and Kris Dahl.

B. Holt, J. H. Shawky, K. N. Dahl, L. A. Davidson§, M. Islam§ (2016). Distribution of single-wall carbon nanotubes in the Xenopus laevis embryo after microinjection. Applied Toxicology. 36: 568-578. (§ contributed equally) PMID: 26510384.

B. Holt, J. H. Shawky, K. N. Dahl, L. A. Davidson§, M. Islam§ (2016). Developing Xenopus embryos recover by compacting and expelling single-wall carbon nanotubes. Journal of Applied Toxicology. 36: 579-585. (§ contributed equally). PMID: 26153061

Shroom3 regulates myosin II distribution in planar cell polarity pathway during neural tube closure.

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New publication from collaboration with Erica McGreevy and Jeff Hildebrand.

M. McGreevy. D. Vijayraghavan, L. A. Davidson and J. D. Hildebrand (2015). Shroom3 functions downstream of planar cell polarity to regulate myosin II distribution and cellular organization during neural tube closure. Biology Open . PMID: 25596276, PMCID: 4365487