Early embryonic development from zygote to blastocyst is a highly dynamic, self-organised process in which stem cells undergo successive cell fate decisions and form a complex structure. Local patterns in the early and mid blastocyst stage resolve into global patterns in the late stage of the blastocyst . A first modelling approach, based on cell division and signalling showed that the spatial cell fate patterns arising in the earlyand mid stage, are compatible with signalling beyond the nearest neighbours . As a next step, we expanded our existing mathematical, agent-based model to incorporate the late stage by including cell sorting based on differential adhesion. The resulting model consists of cell division, cell death, physical interactions, transcription and signalling between the cells. The model allows us to systematically investigate the influence of these mechanisms and their relative timing with respect to the formation of the global pattern in the late blastocyst stage.
Fischer, S. C., Corujo-Simon, E., Lilao-Garzon, J., Stelzer, E. H. K., & Muñoz-Descalzo, S. (2020). The transition from local to global patterns governs the differentiation of mouse blastocysts. PloS one, 15(5), e0233030.
Fischer, S. C., Schardt, S., Lilao-Garzón, J., & Muñoz-Descalzo, S. (2023). The salt-and-pepper pattern in mouse blastocysts is compatible with signaling beyond the nearest neighbors. In iScience (Vol. 26, Issue 11, p. 108106).
Schardt, S., & Fischer, S. C. (2023). Adjusting the range of cell-cell communication enables fine-tuning of cell fate patterns from checkerboard to engulfing. Journal of mathematical biology, 87(4), 54.
https://indico.ijs.si/event/2746/