How morphogen gradients are formed has been under debate since the term was first coined by Alan Turing. Can diffusion alone lead to the robust formation of morphogen gradients? Or are cell processes like transcytosis important to move molecules across tissues? How does the complex geometry of the extracellular space determine the diffusive and transport properties of morphogen molecules? In the first part of my talk, I will present a theoretical framework that addresses these questions, and I will discuss the design principles for morphogen gradient formation and the ways these can lead to robustness to perturbations such as tissue size and the molecular numbers in the system. I will then present a combination of experimental and theoretical work where we show that transitions in tissue-scale physical properties are coupled to morphogen signalling and transport during early zebrafish development. Our findings show that morphogen transport are actively regulated by cell and tissue architecture in vivo. We propose that feedback loops between morphogen signalling and tissue organization lock patterning and morphogenesis in a closed feedback loop that ensures that their dynamics are kept in sync. 

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