Biomaterials made by living systems, while very diverse, generally share similar
organization: different lineages of cells are precisely patterned within a matrix to create a …

Mechanical forces are known to regulate homeostasis of the skin and play a role in the
pathogenesis of skin diseases. The epidermis consists of keratinocytes that are tightly …

In his classic book On Growth and Form, D'Arcy Thompson discussed the necessity of a
physical and mathematical approach to understanding the relationship between growth and …

In plants, as in animals, organ growth depends on mechanical interactions between cells
and tissues, and is controlled by both biochemical and mechanical cues. Here, we …

The magnitude of many kinds of biological structures and processes scale with organismal
size, often in regular ways that can be described by power functions. Traditionally, many of …

Basement membrane plays a foundational role in the structure and maintenance of many
tissues throughout the animal kingdom. In addition to signaling to cells through cell-surface …

The stereotyped dimensions of animal bodies and their component parts result from tight
constraints on growth. Yet, the mechanisms that stop growth when organs reach the right …

Maintenance of tissue organization is crucial to ensure normal organ function and organism
viability. Tissues are loaded with the ability to sense the available space, measuring cell …

Basement membranes (BMs) are extracellular matrix polymers basally underlying epithelia,
where they regulate cell signaling and tissue mechanics. Constriction by the BM shapes …

Shape transformations of epithelial tissues in three dimensions, which are crucial for
embryonic development or in vitro organoid growth, can result from active forces generated …