Morphogenesis is an essential process by which a given tissue, organ or organism acquires its final shape. A select number of mechanisms are used in order to drive epithelial morphogenesis, including cell shape changes as well as cell death or cell division. A cell's shape results from the combination of intrinsic properties of the actomyosin and microtubule (MTs) cytoskeletons, and extrinsic properties due to physical interactions with the neighbouring environment. While we now have a good understanding of the genetic pathways and some of the signalling pathways controlling cell shape changes, the mechanical properties of cells and their role in morphogenesis remain largely unexplored. Recent improvements in microscopy techniques and the development of modelling and quantitative methods have enabled a better understanding of the bio-mechanical events controlling cell shape during morphogenesis. This review aims to highlight recent findings elegantly unravelling and quantifying the contribution of mechanical forces during morphogenesis.

中文翻译：

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上皮形态发生过程中细胞形状的控制：最新进展。

形态发生是给定组织、器官或生物体获得其最终形状的重要过程。使用一些选定的机制来驱动上皮形态发生，包括细胞形状变化以及细胞死亡或细胞分裂。细胞的形状是由肌动球蛋白和微管 (MT) 细胞骨架的内在特性以及由于与邻近环境的物理相互作用而产生的外在特性相结合的结果。虽然我们现在对控制细胞形状变化的遗传途径和一些信号传导途径有了很好的了解，但细胞的机械特性及其在形态发生中的作用仍然很大程度上未被探索。最近显微镜技术的改进以及建模和定量方法的发展使得人们能够更好地理解形态发生过程中控制细胞形状的生物力学事件。这篇综述旨在强调最近的发现，优雅地阐明和量化了机械力在形态发生过程中的贡献。