Genetic and Cellular Mechanisms for Controlled Growth

The project is funded by the Honda Research Institute Europe (Offenbach Germany). The main target of the project is to develop computational models for cellular development to achieve a controlled growth. By controlled growth, we mean three mutually related properties. First, the morphological growth should stop within a limited time. This does not necessarily mean that cells should stop dividing, rather, a balance between cell proliferation and cell death should be achieved. Second, it should achieve a desired shape with a sufficient complexity. Third, it should show a certain capability of self-repairing, i.e., when a small number of the cells are destroyed, the balanced cell growth process should be able to re-generate these cells at the right place. Cellular interaction mechanisms that facilitate a structured growth will be studied. Second, evidence indicating mechanisms for controlled growth found in biology, such as the role of negative and positive feedback loops in gene regulatory networks, will be evaluated and related to those network motifs found in the computational model. Based on the understanding of the structure, dynamics and cellular behaviour of the gene regulatory network model, we will perform a case study of a GRN model for the development of cnidarians Nematostella vectensis and Acropora millepora using biological data, including spatio-temporal gene expression data (in situ hybridisations) and morphological data.