Research by our lab members Kaito Kuninishi and Tomohiro Mimura has been published in the Journal of Biomechanical Science and Engineering.
Using a three-dimensional cell-center model, this study examines how the curvature of a tissue’s underlying surface directs the buckling patterns driven by cell proliferation. On spherical surfaces, the pattern transitions from a dot-like to a labyrinthine state as the radius increases; on prolate ellipsoids, tissues form zig-zag folds reminiscent of beetle horns; and on oblate ellipsoids, they develop concentric ring patterns similar to the Drosophila leg disc. These results suggest that morphogenetic outcomes are robustly “encoded” in the macroscopic geometry of the developing primordium, rather than through molecular pre-patterning alone.