Welcome to the Vertebrate Embryo Elongation Simulator

This interactive simulation visualizes the elongation of a vertebrate embryo, focusing on the coordinated growth of two key tissues: the Presomitic Mesoderm (PSM) – shown in red, located laterally, and the Neural Tube (NT) – shown in green, located centrally.

Both tissues grow side by side and interact mechanically, shaping the elongation process.

Each tissue is characterized by a set of parameters, including tissue geometry (initial length and width), cell proliferation rate, density (initially), viscosity, friction, and response to pressure.

By adjusting these parameters below, you can explore how changes in tissue properties influence overall elongation.

For more details, check out our paper in Development : Link to the paper

Parameters

Choose the parameters and visualize tissue response. All paramaters are given in the international system of units.

Global parameters :

Simulation time : 20 hours.

Tissue friction : 1e12 Pa·s·m−2

Tissue resistance to compression : ε = 0.5 Pa

Sensitivity of cell proliferation to local density : α = 2 dimensionless

Initial length of tissues : 1500e-6 m

Initial width of middle tissue : 100e-6 m

Parameters of lateral tissue (PSM) :

Proliferation rate : 3.2e-5 s−1 Viscosity : 0.2e5 Pa·s Density : 1.2e10 cells/m2

Parameters of central tissues (NT) :

Proliferation rate : 2.6e-5 s−1 Viscosity : 0.2e5 Pa·s Density : 1.8e10 cells/m2