PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

From chaos to structure

How a bunch of seemingly disorganized cells go on to form a robust embryo

From chaos to structure
2024-10-10
(Press-News.org)

Pipetting liquids into tiny test tubes, analyzing huge datasets, poring over research publications—all these tasks are part of being a scientist. But breaking this routine is essential. Time away from the usual work environment can spark creative ideas. Lab retreats, for instance, offer a great setting where researchers can engage with other peers, often leading to new collaborations.

The latter was true for Bernat Corominas-Murtra and Edouard Hannezo from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). Fascinated by a dataset showcased during a poster session at a collaborative retreat research group in Spain, Corominas-Murtra started a lively discussion with fellow researcher Dimitri Fabrèges, a postdoc from the research group of Professor Takashi Hiiragi at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, The Netherlands. What started as a conversation has now turned into a publication in Science.

The international team of researchers has built a comprehensive atlas of early mammalian morphogenesis—the process of an organism developing shape and structure—analyzing how mouse, rabbit, and monkey embryos develop in space and time. Based on this atlas, they see that individual events such as cell divisions and movements are highly chaotic, yet the embryos as a whole end up looking very similar to one another. With this dataset, they propose a physical model that explains how a mammalian embryo builds structure from chaos.

From one to many

In animals, embryonic development starts when an egg cell is fertilized. This event triggers an array of consecutive cell divisions, known as cleavages. In a nutshell, a single cell divides into two, then two become four, four become eight, and so forth. Eventually, the bulk of cells form into a very organized structure called the blastocyst, from which all future organs and tissues develop. The entire process is termed morphogenesis.

“These early steps of embryonic development are key, as they set the stage for all subsequent developmental processes,” explains Edouard Hannezo. In some animals, for instance, in C. elegans—a transparent roundworm and one of the most studied model organisms by developmental biologists—the divisions in the early embryo are extremely well regulated and orientated the same way across different embryos, giving rise to organisms that all have the same number of cells. In mammalian species, however, it seems like divisions are much more random, both in timing and orientation. This raises the question of how reproducible mammalian embryonic development proceeds despite this disorder.

A detailed embryo map

To address this question, the Hiiragi group set out to image and quantitatively analyze many different embryos, to compare their similarities both within and between different mammalian species, from mice to rabbits and monkeys. Dimitri Fabrèges and colleagues created a so-called ‘morphomap’—a map to visualize high-dimensional morphological data. “It’s an imaging analysis pipeline showing how embryos behave in time and space—a precise atlas of an embryo’s morphogenesis,” explains Hannezo.

The map allowed the scientists to quantitatively analyze the developmental process by addressing questions such as the inter-embryo variability of development. With this dataset, the scientists were able to define what ‘normal’ morphogenesis looks like.

Fabrèges presented the morphomap at the lab retreat in Spain. The data showed that the first divisions after fertilization were not regulated across mice, rabbits, and monkeys. The cells divided randomly until they reached the 8-cell stage, a stage where all embryos suddenly started to look the same. “After looking very different in the first stages, embryos seemed to converge toward each other’s shape at the end of the 8-cell stage,” Hannezo continues. But how come? What brings structure to this chaos?

An embryonal Rubik’s cube—cell cluster optimizes its packing

Corominas-Murtra and Hannezo, both theoretical physicists, were fascinated by this dataset and set out to understand this process from a theoretical standpoint.

However, an embryo’s shape is highly complex, making it difficult to determine what it means for two embryos to be similar or different. The scientists discovered that they could effectively approximate the full complexity of the structure of an embryo simply by studying the configurations of the cell-to-cell contacts. “We think that we can derive most of the important details about the morphology of an embryo by understanding the arrangements of cells or knowing which cells are physically connected—similar to connections in a social network. This approach significantly simplifies data analysis and comparisons between different embryos,” says Corominas-Murtra.

Using this information, the scientists created a simple physical model for how embryos converge to a reproducible shape. The model shows that physical laws drive embryos to form a specific morphology shared among mammals.

By destabilizing most cell arrangements except a few selective ones that lower the surface energy of the embryo, physical interactions between cells can guide the formation toward a defined shape. In other words, cells tend to stick more and more together and this seemingly simple process actually drives the embryo through successive rearrangements to the most optimal packing. It’s like embryos solve their own Rubik’s cube.

No chaos, no structure

The results provide a detailed look at how the development of mammalian embryos is governed by variability and robustness. Without chaos, there is no structure; one needs the other. Both are essential parts of what constitutes ‘normal’ development. “We’re finally starting to have tools to analyze the variability of morphogenesis, which is crucial to understanding the mechanisms of developmental robustness,” Hannezo summarizes. Randomness seems to be a primary force in the generation of complexity in the living world.

By gaining more knowledge of what normal looks like, scientists also gain insights into abnormalities. This can be very helpful in areas, such as disease research, regenerative medicine, or fertility treatments. In the future, this knowledge can assist in selecting the healthiest embryo for in vitro fertilization (IVF), thereby improving the implantation success rate.

END


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
From chaos to structure From chaos to structure 2 From chaos to structure 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Variability in when and how cells divide promotes healthy development in embryos

Variability in when and how cells divide promotes healthy development in embryos
2024-10-10
There is variability in when and how cells divide during the development of embryos. While researchers traditionally believed this variability was an obstacle that needed to be regulated, the Hiiragi group now found that it actually promotes healthy development. The results, published in Science on 11 October 2024, encourage other scientists to see the potential of variability and could have significant impact on assisted reproductive technology.  An embryo consists of cells. These cells divide to make new cells, allowing the embryo to grow. The cells experience variability in how and when they divide and in how they interact with each other. Scientists ...

Hidden biological processes can affect how the ocean stores carbon

Hidden biological processes can affect how the ocean stores carbon
2024-10-10
New Stanford-led research unveils a hidden factor that could change our understanding of how oceans mitigate climate change. The study, published Oct. 11 in Science, reveals never-before seen mucus “parachutes” produced by microscopic marine organisms that significantly slow their sinking, putting the brakes on a process crucial for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The surprising discovery implies that previous estimates of the ocean’s carbon sequestration potential may have been overestimated, but also paves the way toward improving climate models and informing ...

European forest plants are migrating westwards, nitrogen main cause

European forest plants are migrating westwards, nitrogen main cause
2024-10-10
New research reveals nitrogen pollution, and to a lesser extent climate change, unexpectedly as the key driver behind surprising westward shifts in the distribution of plants. A recent study has uncovered that many European forest plant species are moving towards the west due to high nitrogen deposition levels, defying the common belief that climate change is the primary cause of species moving northward. This finding reshapes our understanding of how environmental factors, and in particular nitrogen pollution, influence biodiversity. While it is widely assumed that rising temperatures are pushing many species toward cooler, northern areas, this research shows that westward ...

Macronutrient and micronutrient intake among US women ages 20 to 44

2024-10-10
About The Study: This cross-sectional study of pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age found that vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron intake decreased over the past 2 decades, which may have substantial maternal and fetal health implications. By identifying these nutrient gaps and trends in inadequate intake in this at-risk population, scientific, health care, and regulatory communities may be better poised to adopt recommendations to improve nutrient intake.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Derek Miketinas, PhD, RD, email dmiketinas@twu.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

Payments by drug and medical device manufacturers to us peer reviewers of major medical journals

2024-10-10
About The Study: More than half of the 1,962 U.S. physicians included in this study who peer reviewed for the most influential medical journals received industry payments in 2020-2022, with most payments for research. Research payments, especially those provided to an institution, may have different implications than general payments for conflicts of interest. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Christopher J. D. Wallis, MD, PhD, email wallis.cjd@gmail.com. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.17681) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

One-third of cancer-related crowdfunding campaigns share medical financial hardship and health-related social needs, new research shows

One-third of cancer-related crowdfunding campaigns share medical financial hardship and health-related social needs, new research shows
2024-10-10
In a new, large comprehensive analysis led by the American Cancer Society (ACS), researchers, using a form of Artificial Intelligence (AI), found that more than one-third of fundraising stories on the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform in the United States explicitly shared experiences of medical financial hardships and health-related social needs (HRSNs). The fundraising stories included hardships such as housing and food insecurities, transportation barriers, income loss, lack of sick leave, and disruptions to both work and school. The findings are published today ...

Faulty 'fight or flight' response drives deadly C. difficile infections, research reveals

Faulty fight or flight response drives deadly C. difficile infections, research reveals
2024-10-10
The portion of our nervous systems responsible for the “fight or flight” response can shape the severity of potentially deadly C. difficile infections, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals. The findings suggest that doctors may be able to save patients from the infections – a plague for hospitals and nursing homes – by using drugs to quiet the hyperactive nervous system response, the researchers say. “Compared to how much we know about immune system influences in C. difficile infections, the field is just scratching ...

Checking out the boundaries: Milestone in lipidomics achieved

2024-10-10
Results of the first phase of a Ceramide Ring Trial have just been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications, representing a significant landmark in the field of lipidomics. This achievement, involving researchers at the University of Vienna and scientific teams in Singapore, Julich and Espoo, represents a groundbreaking advance in the establishment of ceramide reference values, plasma lipids involved in such as cardiovascular diseases. The ring trial was performed under the umbrella of the International Lipidomics Society ...

SNU-KAIST researchers jointly develop a new visible light communication encryption technology using chiral nanoparticles

SNU-KAIST researchers jointly develop a new visible light communication encryption technology using chiral nanoparticles
2024-10-10
Seoul National University(SNU) College of Engineering announced that a joint research team led by Professor Ki Tae Nam from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at SNU and Professor Junil Choi from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed a novel visible light communication encryption technology with high security using chiral nanoparticles.   Just as a lighthouse provides a guiding beam in the vast darkness of the sea, light-based information transmission has been a crucial means of communication throughout human history. ...

HPTN 091 study shows encouraging uptake and adherence to oral PrEP among transgender women

HPTN 091 study shows encouraging uptake and adherence to oral PrEP among transgender women
2024-10-10
DURHAM, N.C. – Researchers from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) presented results from HPTN 091 (“I Am Study”) at the HIVR4P 2024 conference in Lima, Peru. The study examined the acceptability and feasibility of an integrated multicomponent strategy to enhance daily oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and adherence among transgender women in a randomized immediate versus deferred design. The integrated care strategy included the provision of gender-affirming hormone ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

AACR: New CAR T cell therapy benefits patients with advanced thyroid cancers

AcrOSS platform: Advancing safe UAS operations in critical areas

Quantum computing paves the way for low-carbon building operations

HonorHealth Research Institute presents new findings in decades-long quest to conquer aggressive pancreatic cancer

HonorHealth Research Institute is the first of 50 sites worldwide to treat a patient in a new clinical study aimed at melanoma

Surviving cancer, still suffering: Survey reveals gaps in follow‑up care

A scientific method for flawless cacio e pepe

Uptake of and disparities in semaglutide and tirzepatide prescribing for obesity in the US

Bridging the AI gap in medicine: new framework targets family doctor education

Prenatal and perinatal factors of life’s essential 8 cardiovascular health trajectories

Maternal hypertension and adverse neurodevelopment in a cohort of preterm infants

Menstrual cycle length changes following vaccination against influenza alone or with COVID-19

Study suggests dance and lullabies aren’t universal human behaviors

Feeling stressed may lead to worsened respiratory symptoms, decreased quality of life

Couple satisfaction linked to fewer cognitive issues with chemo

Spiritual health practitioners reveal key motivations in psychedelic-assisted therapy practice

Nursing 2025: No relief in sight as burnout, stress and short staffing persist

Flares from magnetized stars can forge planets’ worth of gold, other heavy elements

Breast cancer mortality in women ages 20-49 significantly dropped between 2010 and 2020

Cancer-related fatigue and depression may lead to decrease in recreational physical activities and quality of life in survivors

ODEP-based robotic system for micromanipulation and in-flow analysis of primary cells

Patient outcomes may improve with tailored treatment guided by tissue plus liquid biopsies vs. individually

Platinum wire-embedded culturing device for interior signal recording from lollipop-shaped neural spheroids

Gold for sports, green silver for industry!

Biodiversity and ecosystem stability

Poll: Many Americans say they will lose trust in public health recommendations under federal leadership changes

Overcoming the quantum sensing barrier

Sugar signalling applications could boost wheat yields by up to 12%

Rainfall triggers extreme humid heat in tropics and subtropics

Teenage years crucial for depression intervention, study finds

[Press-News.org] From chaos to structure
How a bunch of seemingly disorganized cells go on to form a robust embryo