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Biomechanical guidance helps elongate a lumen

Nature Cell Biology volume 18, pages 255–257 (2016)Cite this article

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Transporting epithelia commonly consist of tubes that mediate between the body and its environment. Lumen formation is closely linked to epithelial morphogenesis, but an open question is how luminal symmetry is broken to generate tubes rather than hollow cysts. A report about the biomechanics of intercellular contacts might now provide some answers.

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Figure 1: Symmetry breaking during luminal morphogenesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kenneth Wee and Alpha S. Yap are in the Division of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia,

    Kenneth Wee & Alpha S. Yap

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  1. Kenneth Wee
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  2. Alpha S. Yap
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Correspondence to Alpha S. Yap.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Wee, K., Yap, A. Biomechanical guidance helps elongate a lumen. Nat Cell Biol 18, 255–257 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3319

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