By exerting 'crowd control' over mouse cells, scientists make progress towards engineering tissues
Originally published by Keck School of Medicine of USC at phys.org on November 19, 2024 A circular field of cells shows a gradient of patterns, with green spots decreasing in size as cell density increases. Credit: Morsut Lab/USC Stem Cell Genes aren't the sole driver instructing cells to build multicellular structures, tissues, and organs . In a p aper published in Nature Communications , USC Stem Cell scientist Leonardo Morsut and Caltech computational biologist Matt Thomson characterize the influence of another important developmental driver : cell density , or how loosely or tightly cells are packed into a given space. In both computational models and laboratory experiments , the team of scientists used cell density as an effective tool for controlling how mouse cells pattern themselves into complex structures . "This paper represents progress towards our big picture goal of engineering synthetic tissues ," said Morsut, an assistant professor of stem cell b...