Morphogenesis is a precise and robust dynamic process during metazoan embryogenesis consisting of both cell proliferation and cell migration. However, unlike the progress in discovering molecular activity that regulate morphogenesis, general and extensible in silico model based on cell-level interaction has not been well established yet, especially for comprehensive reconstruction and prediction on morphological features observed in live embryo (e.g., cell shape, cell-cell contact relationship). In this talk, using Caenorhabditis elegans as model animal, we present a data-driven phase field model to simulate the morphogenesis procedure within a confined compressed eggshell. We first collected three-dimensional time-lapse (4D) cellular morphological information from the in vivo imaging experiments. Based on the developmental properties obtained, we not only successfully reconstructed the evolution of cell location, cell morphology and cell-cell contact relationship observed in real embryo, but also provided mechanical perspectives on several significant developmental events such as Wnt signaling from P2 to EMS, establishment of the three orthogonal body axes and spatial robustness against external compression.

张磊，北京大学北京国际数学研究中心长聘副教授、定量生物学中心研究员。2001年本科毕业于北京大学数学科学学院，2004年在中国科学院数学与系统科学研究院获硕士学位，2009年在美国宾州州立大学数学系获博士学位。研究领域为计算数学，以及数学与生命科学、材料科学的交叉。研究方向包括稀有事件及鞍点的算法、解景观的算法与应用；固态相变的形核问题、液晶和软物质材料计算；计算系统生物学、生物网络的可计算建模、发育和细胞生物的建模与计算。曾获中组部高层次青年人才计划、基金委优秀青年科学基金、英国皇家学会牛顿高级学者等资助。