Self-sustained Planar Intercalations due to Mechanosignaling Feedbacks Lead to Robust Axis Extension during Morphogenesis

Abstract

Tissue elongation is a necessary process in metazoans to implement their body plans that is not fully understood. Here we propose a mechanism based on the interplay between cellular mechanics and primordia patterning that results in self-sustained planar cell intercalations. Thus, we show that a location-dependent modulation of cell mechanics due to positional information leads to robust axis extension. To illustrate the plausibility of this model, we use different experimentally reported patterning mechanisms in simulations that implement mechano-signaling feedback. Our results suggest that robust elongation relies on a trade-off between cellular and tissue strains that is orchestrated via the cleavage orientation. In the particular context of axis extension in Turing-patterned primordia we report that the combination of different directional cell activities lead to synergetic effects. Altogether, our findings help to understand how the emerging phenomenon of tissue elongation emerges from the individual cell dynamics.