TY - JOUR T1 - A regulated environment for micro-organs defines essential conditions for intercellular Ca<sup>2+</sup> waves JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/081869 SP - 081869 AU - Cody E. Narciso AU - Nicholas M. Contento AU - Thomas J. Storey AU - David J. Hoelzle AU - Jeremiah J. Zartman Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/19/081869.abstract N2 - The mechanical stress state of an organ is a critical, but still poorly understood, driver of organogenesis and regeneration. Here we report a chip-based regulated environment for micro-organs (REM-Chip) that enables systematic investigations of the crosstalk between an organ’s mechanical stress environment and biochemical signaling under a multitude of genetic and chemical perturbations. This method has enabled us to identify essential conditions for generating organ-scale intercellular calcium (Ca2+) waves (ICWs) in Drosophila wing imaginal discs that are also observed in vivo. Spontaneous ICWs require the presence of components in fly extract-based growth serum (FEX). Using the REM-Chip, we demonstrate that the release and not the initial application of mechanical compression is sufficient but not necessary to initiate ICWs. Further, the extent of the Ca2+ response is heterogeneous between discs and correlates with the degree of spontaneous ICWs activity in the pre-stress state. This system and method enable detailed examinations of the interplay between mechanical stress state, biochemical regulatory networks, and physiology in complex, hierarchically organized organ cultures.Abbreviations:BLBloomington Stock CenterKSCKyoto Stock Center ER -