Pattern formation in a gene network model with boundary shape dependence

A fundamental task in developmental biology is to identify the mechanisms which drive morphogenesis. Traditionally pattern formation have been modeled mainly using Turing-type mechanisms, where complex patterns arise by symmetry breaking. However, there is a growing experimental evidence that the influence of signals derived from surrounding tissues can contribute to the patterning processes. In this paper, we show that the interplay between the shape of surrounding tissues and a hierarchically organized gene regulatory network can be able to induce stable complex patterns. The rise of these patterns depends strongly on the shape of the surrounding tissues.