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Journal Article

A hydraulic instability drives the cell death decision in the nematode germline

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Mukherjee,  Arghyadip
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Max Planck Society;

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Jülicher,  Frank
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Chartier, N. T., Mukherjee, A., Pfanzelter, J., Furthauer, S., Larson, B. T., Fritsch, A. W., et al. (2021). A hydraulic instability drives the cell death decision in the nematode germline. Nature Physics, 17(8), 920-925. doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01235-x.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0009-22D2-3
Abstract
Oocytes are large cells that develop into an embryo upon fertilization(1). As interconnected germ cells mature into oocytes, some of them grow-typically at the expense of others that undergo cell death(2-4). We present evidence that in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, this cell-fate decision is mechanical and related to tissue hydraulics. An analysis of germ cell volumes and material fluxes identifies a hydraulic instability that amplifies volume differences and causes some germ cells to grow and others to shrink, a phenomenon that is related to the two-balloon instability(5). Shrinking germ cells are extruded and they die, as we demonstrate by artificially reducing germ cell volumes via thermoviscous pumping(6). Our work reveals a hydraulic symmetry-breaking transition central to the decision between life and death in the nematode germline.