Proliferation symmetry breaking in growing tissues

Abstract

Morphogenesis of developing tissues results from anisotropic growth, typically driven by polarized patterns of gene expression. Here we propose an alternative model of anisotropic growth driven by self-organized feed-back between cell polarity, mechanical pressure, and cell division rates. Specifically, cell polarity alignment can induce spontaneous symmetry breaking in proliferation, resulting from the anisotropic distribution of mechanical pressure in the tissue. We show that proliferation anisotropy can be controlled by cellular elasticity, motility and contact inhibition, thereby elucidating the design principles for anisotropic morphogenesis.