title: Mechanics of tissue compaction.
abstract: During embryonic development, tissues deform by a succession and combination of morphogenetic processes. Tissue compaction is the morphogenetic process by which a tissue adopts a tighter structure. Recent studies characterized the respective roles of cells' adhesive and contractile properties in tissue compaction. In this review, we formalize the mechanical and molecular principles of tissue compaction and we analyze through the prism of this framework several morphogenetic events: the compaction of the early mouse embryo, the formation of the fly retina, the segmentation of somites and the separation of germ layers during gastrulation.
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Turlier
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: maitre@embl.de.
authors.forename: Jean-Léon
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Maître
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology*; D054262:Gastrulation / Q000502:physiology; D005855:Germ Layers / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: Cell adhesion; Compaction; Contractility; Mechanics; Theory