A multidisciplinary approach to decoding biological oscillations: mathematics, biology, and medicine

Project Gist

Exploring the principle for synchronized oscillation between gut organoids

Keywords

Gut peristalsis, organoid, coupled-oscillators

Background and Purpose

Biological oscillation is a fundamental principle for homeostasis of life, which coordinates diverse body functions such as peristaltic movement in the intestine. Our project aimed to reveal the mechanism of coupled oscillations between gut organoids by multidisciplinary sciences of experimental biology and mathematics. This fundamental study would uncover the mechanisms of dysfunction of gut movement and contribute to the future therapies.

Project Achievements

We analyzed the coupled oscillations between gut organoids when they fused together and succeeded to identify the specific cell populations guiding coupled oscillations. Mathematical analysis predicted that the gut organoids include leader cells guiding oscillations and follower cells susceptible to the oscillation of leader cells. Now, our multidisciplinary project developed a novel research idea regarding biological oscillations regulating morphogenesis, leading to getting fund for long-term projects.

Future Prospects

Our multidisciplinary approaches have found the specific cell populations that govern the coupled oscillations in organoids. Our next challenge is identifying the cellular basis of leader and follower cells and their cellular components for signal transduction and keeping to explore future therapies. Finally, we want to understand how biological oscillations are interpreted in diverse biological functions.

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Principal Investigator