title: Linking suckling biomechanics to the development of the palate.
abstract: Skulls are amongst the most informative documents of evolutionary history but a complex geometry, coupled with composite material properties and complicated biomechanics, have made it particularly challenging to identify mechanical principles guiding the skull's morphogenesis. Despite this challenge, multiple lines of evidence, for example the relationship between masticatory function and the evolution of jaw shape, nonetheless suggest that mechanobiology plays a major role in skull morphogenesis. To begin to tackle this persistent challenge, cellular, molecular and tissue-level analyses of the developing mouse palate were coupled with finite element modeling to demonstrate that patterns of strain created by mammalian-specific oral behaviors produce complementary patterns of chondrogenic gene expression in an initially homogeneous population of cranial neural crest cells. Neural crest cells change from an osteogenic to a chondrogenic fate, leading to the materialization of cartilaginous growth plate-like structures in the palatal midline. These growth plates contribute to lateral expansion of the head but are transient structures; when the strain patterns associated with suckling dissipate at weaning, the growth plates disappear and the palate ossifies. Thus, mechanical cues such as strain appear to co-regulate cell fate specification and ultimately, help drive large-scale morphogenetic changes in head shape.
authors: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 610041.|Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305.
authors: Jingtao
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305.|Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15261.
authors: Chelsey A
authors: CA
authors: Johnson
authors: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305.
authors: Andrew A
authors: AA
authors: Smith
authors: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305.
authors: Daniel J
authors: DJ
authors: Hunter
authors: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305.
authors: Gurpreet
authors: G
authors: Singh
authors: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305.
authors: John B
authors: JB
authors: Brunski
authors: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305.
authors: Jill A
authors: JA
authors: Helms
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling / Q000254:growth & development*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology*; D010159:Palate / Q000254:growth & development*