Computational models of airway branching morphogenesis. (July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Varner, Victor D.; Nelson, Celeste M.
• Is Part Of: Seminars in cell & developmental biology. Volume 67(2017)
• Page Start: 170
• Page End: 176
• Publication Date: 2017-07
• Subjects: 2D two-dimensional -- 3D three-dimensional -- FGF fibroblast growth factor -- SHH sonic hedgehog; Quantitative models -- Morphodynamics -- Mechanobiology -- Turing patterns; Cytology -- Periodicals; Developmental biology -- Periodicals; 571.6
• DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.06.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1084-9521

Abstract

Abstract: The bronchial network of the mammalian lung consists of millions of dichotomous branches arranged in a highly complex, space-filling tree. Recent computational models of branching morphogenesis in the lung have helped uncover the biological mechanisms that construct this ramified architecture. In this review, we focus on three different theoretical approaches – geometric modeling, reaction-diffusion modeling, and continuum mechanical modeling – and discuss how, taken together, these models have identified the geometric principles necessary to build an efficient bronchial network, as well as the patterning mechanisms that specify airway geometry in the developing embryo. We emphasize models that are integrated with biological experiments and suggest how recent progress in computational modeling has advanced our understanding of airway branching morphogenesis.