On the mechanochemical theory of biological pattern formation with application to vasculogenesis

We first describe the Murray-Oster mechanical theory of pattern formation, the biological basis of which is experimentally well documented. The model quantifies the interaction of cells and the extracellular matrix via the cell-generated forces. The model framework is described in quantitative detail. Vascular endothelial cells, when cultured on gelled basement membrane matrix, rapidly aggregate into clusters while deforming the matrix into a network of cord-like structures tessellating the planar culture. We apply the mechanical theory of pattern formation to this culture system and show that neither strain-biased anisotropic cell traction nor cell migration are necessary for pattern formation: isotropic, strain- stimulated cell traction is sufficient to form the observed patterns. Predictions from the model were confirmed experimentally. To cite this article: J.D. Murray, C. R. Biologies 326 (2003). (C) 2003 Published by Academie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.