Baker Ruth E, Schnell Santiago, Maini Philip K
Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, 24-29 St. Giles, Oxford OX1 3LB, United Kingdom.
Curr Top Dev Biol. 2008;81:183-203. doi: 10.1016/S0070-2153(07)81006-4.
Somitogenesis is the process of division of the anterior-posterior vertebrate embryonic axis into similar morphological units known as somites. These segments generate the prepattern which guides formation of the vertebrae, ribs and other associated features of the body trunk. In this work, we review and discuss a series of mathematical models which account for different stages of somite formation. We begin by presenting current experimental information and mechanisms explaining somite formation, highlighting features which will be included in the models. For each model we outline the mathematical basis, show results of numerical simulations, discuss their successes and shortcomings and avenues for future exploration. We conclude with a brief discussion of the state of modeling in the field and current challenges which need to be overcome in order to further our understanding in this area.
体节发生是脊椎动物胚胎前后轴分裂为称为体节的相似形态单位的过程。这些节段产生引导椎体、肋骨和躯干其他相关特征形成的预模式。在这项工作中，我们回顾并讨论了一系列解释体节形成不同阶段的数学模型。我们首先介绍当前关于体节形成的实验信息和机制，突出将纳入模型的特征。对于每个模型，我们概述其数学基础，展示数值模拟结果，讨论其成功与不足以及未来探索的途径。最后，我们简要讨论了该领域建模的现状以及为进一步加深我们在这一领域的理解而需要克服的当前挑战。
