Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2011 Oct;21(5):647-52. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2011.09.005. Epub 2011 Oct 6.
Would it not be nice to understand the rules that govern how a small and round zygote reforms itself into a full blown three-dimensional and structured organism? The past decades have provided us with a wealth of knowledge about molecular mechanisms, intracellular behaviors, and tissue organization. However, we still do not know how to systematically integrate molecular mechanisms into descriptions that operate at larger scales involving higher-order structures such as the actomyosin cell cortex or an entire tissue. For development, it is the biophysical laws by which these structures deform, move, and restructure that are essential for morphogenetic rearrangements at developmental length- and time-scales. Recent years have seen the advent of systematic approaches for identifying these laws and ways to determine associated physical behaviors. Here I attempt to paint an intuitive picture of the mechanical concepts that are important for large-scale developmental rearrangements, and I briefly review the technique of laser ablation for measuring associated physical quantities and testing physical models.
了解控制小圆球受精卵自我构建成完整的三维结构生物体的规则难道不是一件美事吗？过去几十年，我们已经获得了大量关于分子机制、细胞内行为和组织构成的知识。然而，我们仍然不知道如何将分子机制系统地整合到描述中，这些描述需要在更大的尺度上进行，涉及更高阶的结构，如肌动球蛋白细胞皮层或整个组织。对于发育而言，这些结构变形、移动和重构的生物物理定律对于在发育的长度和时间尺度上进行形态发生重排至关重要。近年来，已经出现了系统的方法来识别这些定律以及确定相关物理行为的方法。在这里，我试图直观地描绘对于大规模发育重排很重要的力学概念，并简要回顾激光消融技术，用于测量相关物理量和测试物理模型。
