Experimental and computational methodologies to measure intercellular forces during tissue development.

During two and three-dimensional tissue development, cell-cell confinement, cell-cell traction forces, and the resulting intracellular tension play a key role in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis. Yet, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the biochemical response of living cells to these mechanical forces are largely elusive, in part due to the lack of suitable methods to measure accurately the intercellular forces in developing living tissues with high spatial and temporal resolution.