title: Digit patterning during limb development as a result of the BMP-receptor interaction.
abstract: Turing models have been proposed to explain the emergence of digits during limb development. However, so far the molecular components that would give rise to Turing patterns are elusive. We have recently shown that a particular type of receptor-ligand interaction can give rise to Schnakenberg-type Turing patterns, which reproduce patterning during lung and kidney branching morphogenesis. Recent knockout experiments have identified Smad4 as a key protein in digit patterning. We show here that the BMP-receptor interaction meets the conditions for a Schnakenberg-type Turing pattern, and that the resulting model reproduces available wildtype and mutant data on the expression patterns of BMP, its receptor, and Fgfs in the apical ectodermal ridge (AER) when solved on a realistic 2D domain that we extracted from limb bud images of E11.5 mouse embryos. We propose that receptor-ligand-based mechanisms serve as a molecular basis for the emergence of Turing patterns in many developing tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department for Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) , ETH Zurich, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Amarendra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Badugu
authors.forename: Conradin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Germann
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Menshykau
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iber
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D052004:Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000502:physiology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D018878:Limb Buds / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D051901:Smad4 Protein / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor; D051901:Smad4 Protein; C527933:Sox9 protein, mouse; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors; D052004:Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptors