近日，法国索邦大学的Jean-Léon Matre研究组与巴黎文理研究大学的Hervé Turlier研究组合作报道了小鼠囊胚腔形成的力学机制。该项研究成果发表在2019年8月2日出版的《科学》上。

研究人员发现，加压液流的累积冲破细胞与细胞的接触，从而形成了数百个微米大小的管腔。这些微腔合并其体积最终形成一个主要的管腔，研究人员将其建模为一个类似于Ostwald熟化的过程。利用嵌合突变体胚胎，研究人员通过调整细胞与细胞接触的水力压裂以及控制微腔的变粗，成功实现了对囊胚腔定位的操控。这项研究表明，小鼠胚胎发育过程中第一个对称轴是由细胞与细胞接触的水力压裂与紧接着的收缩导向的微腔变粗而实现的。

据悉，在小鼠着床前发育时，囊胚腔(充满液体的腔)的形成打破了囊胚的辐射对称性。调控这一基底腔形成和定位的因子尚不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Hydraulic fracturing and active coarsening position the lumen of the mouse blastocyst

Author: Julien G. Dumortier, Mathieu Le Verge-Serandour, Anna Francesca Tortorelli, Annette Mielke, Ludmilla de Plater, Hervé Turlier, Jean-Léon Matre

Issue&Volume: Vol 365 Issue 6452

Abstract: During mouse pre-implantation development, the formation of the blastocoel, a fluid-filled lumen, breaks the radial symmetry of the blastocyst. The factors that control the formation and positioning of this basolateral lumen remain obscure. We found that accumulation of pressurized fluid fractures cell-cell contacts into hundreds of micrometer-size lumens. These microlumens eventually discharge their volumes into a single dominant lumen, which we model as a process akin to Ostwald ripening, underlying the coarsening of foams. Using chimeric mutant embryos, we tuned the hydraulic fracturing of cell-cell contacts and steered the coarsening of microlumens, allowing us to successfully manipulate the final position of the lumen. We conclude that hydraulic fracturing of cell-cell contacts followed by contractility-directed coarsening of microlumens sets the first axis of symmetry of the mouse embryo.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw7709

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6452/465