Browsing by Author "Zartman, Jeremiah J."

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    Sizing it up: The mechanical feedback hypothesis of organ growth regulation
    (Elsevier, 2014) Buchmann, Amy; Alber, Mark; Zartman, Jeremiah J.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    The question of how the physical dimensions of animal organs are specified has long fascinated both experimentalists and computational scientists working in the field of developmental biology. Research over the last few decades has identified many of the genes and signaling pathways involved in organizing the emergent multi-scale features of growth and homeostasis. However, an integrated model of organ growth regulation is still unrealized due to the numerous feedback control loops found within and between intercellular signaling pathways as well as a lack of understanding of the exact role of mechanotransduction. Here, we review several computational and experimental studies that have investigated the mechanical feedback hypothesis of organ growth control, which postulates that mechanical forces are important for regulating the termination of growth and hence the final physical dimensions of organs. In particular, we highlight selected computational studies that have focused on the regulation of growth of the Drosophila wing imaginal disc. In many ways, these computational and theoretical approaches continue to guide experimental inquiry. We demonstrate using several examples how future progress in dissecting the crosstalk between the genetic and biophysical mechanisms controlling organ growth might depend on the close coupling between computational and experimental approaches, as well as comparison of growth control mechanisms in other systems.
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    Whole blood clot optical clearing for nondestructive 3D imaging and quantitative analysis
    (Optical Society of America, 2017-07-17) Höök, Peter; Brito-Robinson, Teresa; Kim, Oleg; Narciso, Cody; Goodson, Holly V.; Weisel, John W.; Alber, Mark S.; Zartman, Jeremiah J.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    A technological revolution in both light and electron microscopy imaging now allows unprecedented views of clotting, especially in animal models of hemostasis and thrombosis. However, our understanding of three-dimensional high-resolution clot structure remains incomplete since most of our recent knowledge has come from studies of relatively small clots or thrombi, due to the optical impenetrability of clots beyond a few cell layers in depth. Here, we developed an optimized optical clearing method termed cCLOT that renders large whole blood clots transparent and allows confocal imaging as deep as one millimeter inside the clot. We have tested this method by investigating the 3D structure of clots made from reconstituted pre-labeled blood components yielding new information about the effects of clot contraction on erythrocytes. Although it has been shown recently that erythrocytes are compressed to form polyhedrocytes during clot contraction, observations of this phenomenon have been impeded by the inability to easily image inside clots. As an efficient and non-destructive method, cCLOT represents a powerful research tool in studying blood clot structure and mechanisms controlling clot morphology. Additionally, cCLOT optical clearing has the potential to facilitate imaging of ex vivo clots and thrombi derived from healthy or pathological conditions.