Guillaume Salbreux: From active surfaces to evo-devo-mechanobiology

Guillaume Salbreux

University of Geneva

From active surfaces to evo-devo-mechanobiology


Sketch of a talk by Guillaume Salbreux at the TLM seminars on 19.3. 2025 - the sketch of shows details discussed and shown in a visual comic style - accompanied by a sketch of the details mentioned: Abstract: Morphogenesis of biological systems relies on mechanical forces at the mesoscopic, supracellular level to establish shape. Here I will discuss the physical theory of nematic active surfaces, which describes tensions and bending moments arising in active materials such as biological epithelia. I will then discuss how leveraging this theory can allow us to understand the integration of mechanical modules during development, and how these mechanical modules can vary across species, using the examples of comparison of development of cnidarians. I will introduce the concept of 'mechanical redundancy', showing that several mechanical modules can have similar effect on shape determination.

Papers mentioned in the talk:

Khoromskaia D, Salbreux G. Active morphogenesis of patterned epithelial shells. Elife 2023 Jan;12():. 10.7554/eLife.75878. 75878.

Sumi, A., Hayes, P., D'Angelo, A., Colombelli, J., Salbreux, G., Dierkes, K., & Solon, J. Adherens Junction Length during Tissue Contraction Is Controlled by the Mechanosensitive Activity of Actomyosin and Junctional Recycling. Dev Cell. 2018;47(4):453-463.e3. 

Curran S, Strandkvist C, Bathmann J, de Gennes M, Kabla A, Salbreux G, Baum B. Myosin II Controls Junction Fluctuations to Guide Epithelial Tissue Ordering. Dev Cell. 2017;43(4):480-492.e6.