Epithelial Folding Through Local Degradation of an Elastic Basement Membrane Plate

• Published in: Advanced Physics Research 2024-12, Vol.3 (12), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Santillán, K. Yanín Guerra, Jantzen, Caroline, Dahmann, Christian, Fischer‐Friedrich, Elisabeth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: cell mechanics; epithelial folding; extracellular matrix; plate theory
• ISSN: 2751-1200; 2751-1200
• DOI: 10.1002/apxr.202400062

Epithelia are polarized layers of cells that line the outer and inner surfaces of organs. At the basal side, the epithelial cell layer is supported by a basement membrane, which is a thin polymeric layer of self‐assembled extracellular matrix (ECM) that tightly adheres to the basal cell surface. Proper shaping of epithelial layers is an important prerequisite for the development of healthy organs during the morphogenesis of an organism. Experimental evidence suggests that local degradation of the basement membrane is one of the mechanisms that can drive epithelial folding. However, how folding emerges in the absence of tissue growth remains elusive. Here, we present a coarse‐grained plate theory model of the basement membrane that assumes force balance between i) cell‐transduced active forces and ii) deformation‐induced elastic forces. We verify key assumptions of this model through experiments in the Drosophila wing disc epithelium and demonstrate that the model can explain the emergence of outward epithelial folds upon local plate degradation. The model accounts for local degradation of the basement membrane as a mechanism for the generation of epithelial folds in the absence of epithelial growth. Epithelia are flat tissues with a solid‐like basement membrane attached to their basal surface. During embryonic development, epithelia need to undergo folding processes. While recent studies suggest that local degradation of the basement membrane drives epithelial folding, the mechanism remains elusive. Here, we present a plate theory model that explains how folding can emerge in the absence of tissue growth.