SUPERSEDED - Data supporting Cachat et al. (2017): "Synthetic self-patterning and morphogenesis in mammalian cells: a proof-of-concept step towards synthetic tissue development"

Abstract

These are raw image datasets used in a manuscript (Cachat et al., 2017: Synthetic self-patterning and morphogenesis in mammalian cells: a proof-of-concept step towards synthetic tissue development) with the following abstract: This paper reports a proof-of-concept study as a step toward synthetic-biological morphogenesis of tissues. Events in normal animal development usually follow the sequence: patterning → differential gene expression → morphogenesis. A synthetic biological approach to development would follow the same sequence, with each stage under the control of synthetic biological modules. We have constructed and published a synthetic module that drives self-organized patterning of mammalian cell populations, and a library of modules that drive different types of morphogenetic events. Here, as a proof of concept, we couple a self-patterning module with a morphogenetic effector driving elective cell death. The result is a self-constructing pattern of two cell types, one of which can be selectively eliminated to leave remaining cells as a monolayer with net-like structure. This simple device demonstrates and validates the idea of coupling synthetic biological morphogenetic effectors to synthetic biological patterning devices, and opens the path to engineering more sophisticated structures and, perhaps eventually, tissues.