collaborateurs

Grigorii Timin

Post-doctorant chez Évolution Naturelle & Artificielle

  • T: +41 22 379 67 79
  • office 4023B (Sciences III)

Post-doctorant chez Evo-Devo des appentices cutanés

  • T: +41 22 379 67 79
  • office 4023B (Sciences III)

  • Self-organized patterning of crocodile head scales by compressive folding Nature 637, 375–383 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08268-1

    résumé

    Amniote integumentary appendages constitute a diverse group of micro-organs, including feathers, hair and scales. These structures typically develop as genetically controlled units1, the spatial patterning of which emerges from a self-organized chemical Turing system2,3 with integrated mechanical feedback4,5. The seemingly purely mechanical patterning of polygonal crocodile head scales provides an exception to this paradigm6. However, the nature and origin of the mechanical stress field driving this patterning remain unclear. Here, using precise in ovo intravenous injections of epidermal growth factor protein, we generate Nile crocodile embryos with substantially convoluted head skin, as well as hatchlings with smaller polygonal head scales resembling those of caimans. We then use light-sheet fluorescence microscopy to quantify embryonic tissue-layer geometry, collagen architecture and the spatial distribution of proliferating cells. Using these data, we build a phenomenological three-dimensional mechanical growth model that recapitulates both normal and experimentally modified patterning of crocodile head scales. Our experiments and numerical simulations demonstrate that crocodile head scales self-organize through compressive folding, originating from near-homogeneous skin growth with differential stiffness of the dermis versus the epidermis. Our experiments and theoretical morphospace analyses indicate that variation in embryonic growth and material properties of skin layers provides a simple evolutionary mechanism that produces a diversity of head-scale patterns among crocodilian species.

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  • Self-organized patterning of crocodile head scales by compressive folding. Nature 2025 Jan;637(8045):375-383. PMC11711089. 10.1038/s41586-024-08268-1. 10.1038/s41586-024-08268-1.

    résumé

    Amniote integumentary appendages constitute a diverse group of micro-organs, including feathers, hair and scales. These structures typically develop as genetically controlled units, the spatial patterning of which emerges from a self-organized chemical Turing system with integrated mechanical feedback. The seemingly purely mechanical patterning of polygonal crocodile head scales provides an exception to this paradigm. However, the nature and origin of the mechanical stress field driving this patterning remain unclear. Here, using precise in ovo intravenous injections of epidermal growth factor protein, we generate Nile crocodile embryos with substantially convoluted head skin, as well as hatchlings with smaller polygonal head scales resembling those of caimans. We then use light-sheet fluorescence microscopy to quantify embryonic tissue-layer geometry, collagen architecture and the spatial distribution of proliferating cells. Using these data, we build a phenomenological three-dimensional mechanical growth model that recapitulates both normal and experimentally modified patterning of crocodile head scales. Our experiments and numerical simulations demonstrate that crocodile head scales self-organize through compressive folding, originating from near-homogeneous skin growth with differential stiffness of the dermis versus the epidermis. Our experiments and theoretical morphospace analyses indicate that variation in embryonic growth and material properties of skin layers provides a simple evolutionary mechanism that produces a diversity of head-scale patterns among crocodilian species.

    voir plus de détails sur Pubmed

  • High-resolution confocal and light-sheet imaging of collagen 3D network architecture in very large samples. iScience 2023 Apr;26(4):106452. PMC10067766. 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106452. S2589-0042(23)00529-1.

    résumé

    Although notoriously difficult, imaging collagen network architecture, a key element affecting tissue mechanical properties, is of paramount importance in developmental and cancer biology. Here, we introduce a simple and robust method of whole-mount collagen staining with the 'Fast Green' dye that provides unmatched visualization of collagen 3D network architecture, via confocal or light-sheet microscopy, compatible with solvent-based tissue clearing and immunostaining.

    voir plus de détails sur Pubmed

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