Dynamic Simulation of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Patterning in a 3D Finite-Element Model of the Danio Rerio Embryo

D. Umulis, and S. Lee
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
Published in 2011

Zebrafish development of the dorsoventral axis relies on the spatiotemporal distribution of Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling, which is regulated by numerous secreted molecules such as Tolloid, Sizzled, and Chordin. The rich dorsal/ventral patterning network must achieve both spatial precision in the patterning of downstream targets and confernspatial precision at distinct time points in a constantly changing embryo geometry. However it is unclear how the dynamic patterns are regulated in a constantly changing embryo geometry.

We used COMSOL Multiphysics with Matlab to develop an image-based dynamic zebrafish patterning model to discover mechanisms of robust spatiotemporal patterning.

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