title: The control of branching morphogenesis.
abstract: Many organs of higher organisms are heavily branched structures and arise by an apparently similar process of branching morphogenesis. Yet the regulatory components and local interactions that have been identified differ greatly in these organs. It is an open question whether the regulatory processes work according to a common principle and how far physical and geometrical constraints determine the branching process. Here, we review the known regulatory factors and physical constraints in lung, kidney, pancreas, prostate, mammary gland and salivary gland branching morphogenesis, and describe the models that have been formulated to analyse their impacts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zürich, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iber
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Menshykau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000196:embryology*; D008168:Lung / Q000196:embryology*; D008297:Male; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000196:embryology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis; D010179:Pancreas / Q000196:embryology*; D011467:Prostate / Q000196:embryology*; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000196:embryology*
keywords: branching; computational modelling; in silico organogenesis