Gradients, waves and nematics: quantitative perspectives on regeneration

Regeneration restores a damaged body part to its original size, shape and structure. Research over the last decades identified signaling pathways, cell types and cellular processes that are key for regeneration. Moreover, mechanical cues and electric potentials are increasingly implicated in modulating regenerative processes. An intriguing open question regards how these chemical, mechanical and electric signals are dynamically organized to coordinate cell behaviors across large regenerating tissues and long regenerative timescales for proper morphogenesis. In addition, it is less explored how regeneration is stopped once tissues reach their proper final form. These questions and related models cross-talk with physical notions like information, pattern formation, self-organization, and control. An interdisciplinary approach combining methods and concepts of developmental biology and physics is offering new quantitative insights on these questions. In this approach, researchers characterize the spatial organization and temporal dynamics of chemical, mechanical and electric signal inputs and relate them to cell and tissue behaviors. Initial observations inform theory; in turn, theory guides experiments and data analysis, while state-of-the-art perturbations allow testing these models. After illustrating this approach, we provide examples of its application to animal regeneration in vivo. These works are extending the notion of “morphogen”, contributing to establishing the emerging field of quantitative regeneration and uncovering principles of multicellular organization.