The Drosophila tracheal terminal cell as a model for branching morphogenesis

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gavrilchenko, Tatyana; Simpkins, Alison G.; Simpson, Tanner; Barrett, Lena A.; Hansen, Pauline; Shvartsman, Stanislav Y.; Schottenfeld-Roames, Jodi
• 署名单位: Simons Foundation; Flatiron Institute; Princeton University; Princeton University; McKinsey & Company
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-9728
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2404462121
• 发表日期: 2024-10-08
• 关键词: scaling laws; mechanisms; complex; GROWTH; oxygen

摘要

The terminal cells of the Drosophila larval tracheal system are perhaps the simplest delivery networks, providing an analogue for mammalian vascular growth and function in a system with many fewer components. These cells are a prime example of single-cell morphogenesis, branching significantly over time to adapt to the needs of the growing tissue they supply. While the genetic mechanisms governing local branching decisions have been studied extensively, an understanding of the emergence of a global network architecture is still lacking. Mapping out the full network architecture of populations cell growth follows scaling laws relating the total edge length, supply area, and branch density. Using time-lapse imaging of individual terminal cells, we identify that the cells grow in three ways: by extending branches, by the side budding of new branches, and by internally growing existing branches. A generative model based on these modes of growth recapitulates statistical properties of the terminal cell network data. These results suggest that the scaling laws arise from the coupled contributions of branching and internal growth. This study establishes the terminal cell as a uniquely tractable model system for further studies of transportation and distribution networks.