Organs often have a highly complex structure that is essential for correct function. How these structures are formed during embryonic development is a fundamental question that Munich physicists led by Erwin Frey and Andreas Bausch have investigated using organoids from mammary glands.
Using this system, the scientists have now been able to show in detail that spherical protrusions in mammary gland tissue form according to the same principles as droplets in a stream of water.
For the experimental work in Andreas Bausch's laboratory, the scientists cultivated mammary gland organoids from human donor cells. Organoids are three-dimensional model systems that have physiologically relevant organ-like properties. The mammary gland organoids formed a tubular structure with many branches, at the tips of which spherical protrusions were formed.
Source: LMU
Original publication: Pablo A. Fernández, Benedikt Buchmann, Andriy Goychuk, Lisa K. Engelbrecht, Marion K. Raich, Christina H. Scheel, Erwin Frey and Andreas R. Bausch: Surface tension induced budding drives alveologenesis in human mammary gland organoids. Nature Physics 2021
Photo: Benedikt Buchmann
