Zhang Linjie, Cui Haitao, Li Yongjie, Guo Yaqian, Lv Zhiyi
Vertex dynamics model is a mathematical model based on energy and forces, which is widely used to simulate biological processes such as cell division, cell migration, cell death and cell shape change during morphogenesis. The application of vertex dynamics model plays an important role in contribution to the understanding of biological phenomena and their underlying mechanisms. Current vertex dynamics models focus on the simulation of a tissue composed of a single type of cells. However, multiple type of tissues and cells are often involved in real biological processes. For example, the dorsal closure process during embryonic development of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, which is accomplished by the collaboration of amnioserosa tissues consisting of flat squamous cells and epidermal tissues consisting of columnar epithelial cells. In this paper, the dorsal closure process of Drosophila embryos is successfully simulated by a vertex dynamics model, in which the above two types of cells are included, and the input data is generated by using real time-lapse images. The simulation result is very close to the experimental observation data. The construction of this model provides a new research perspective to further understand the biophysical mechanism of dorsal closure in Drosophila embryos and other related morphogenesis processes.
