What is it about?
We wanted to understand how cells arrange into precise patterns as the cochlea develops its spiral shape. We found that the cochlea is divided into smaller domains, each organising independently while interacting with others to stay coordinated. This interaction between domains is at the core of the coordination in development.
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Why is it important?
Proper functioning of an organ depends upon the molecular and morphological characteristic of cells and their organisation.This organisation occurs at two levels: locally, where different cell types arrange with respect to one another, and globally, where the overall shape and size of the tissue are defined. These levels are tightly linked—local cell arrangements guide tissue shape, while tissue axes align local organisation during development. Our work is focused to understand the mechanism of the link between the global and local scale. We propose that partioning an organ into smaller semi-autonomus domain with an underlying mechanical interaction can drive the coherence between the two spatial scales.
Perspectives
I still remember when I first thought about this problem and brainstormed with my PhD supervisor, Raj. It still gives me goosebumps. He is very encouraging and asked me to lead the project while giving me freedom to explore the idea, design experiments, and write the manuscript. The article, although rooted in the cochlea, thinks about developing organs as smaller units. It shows that the emergence of physiologically relevant shapes and patterns is an outcome of interactions between these domains. This idea of interaction allows us to think that a developing finger interacts with other fingers during morphogenesis, like the development of one tooth would be connected with others. On one hand, it is intuitive and on the other, it is thought-provoking.
Anubhav Prakash
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Coupling between spatial compartments integrates morphogenetic patterning in the organ of Corti, PLoS Biology, September 2025, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003350.
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