Brownian-like deviation of neighboring cells in the early embryogenesis of the zebrafish

TL;DR

This study analyzes the movement deviations of neighboring cells in early zebrafish embryogenesis, revealing Brownian-like fluctuations that differ between daughter cell pairs and other neighbors, supporting the use of white noise models.

Contribution

It demonstrates that cell movement deviations resemble Brownian motion and differ based on cell division status, providing insights into modeling early embryonic cell dynamics.

Findings

Deviations resemble Brownian motion.

Differences between daughter and other cell pairs.

Supports white noise modeling of cell fluctuations.

Abstract

We investigate cell trajectories during zebrafish early embryogenesis based on 3D+time photonic microscopy imaging data. To remove the collective flow motion and focus on fluctuations, we analyze the deviations of pairs of neighboring cells. These deviations resemble Brownian motion and reveal different behaviors between pairs containing daughter cells generated by cell division and other pairs of neighboring cells. This observation justifies a common practice of using white noise fluctuations in modeling cell movement.