Cells build functional tissues by integrating biochemical and mechanical signals across molecular, cellular, and tissue scales.

Beyond signal identity, cells also encode information through the dynamics of signaling activity, including signal duration, frequency, and amplitude. At the same time, the mechanical properties of cells, tissues and their microenvironment shape how these signals are interpreted.

However, how dynamic biochemical and mechanical cues are coordinated in space and time to control cell fate during organ development remains poorly understood.

Our lab aims to uncover how biochemical and mechanical signals are dynamically coordinated across tissue compartments to ensure robust development.

We focus on three main questions:

• How do signaling dynamics, such as signal duration and amplitude, regulate epithelial cell fate and tissue patterning?

• How do cellular and tissue mechanics influence signaling dynamics during epithelial tissue development?

• How is epithelial–mesenchymal signaling crosstalk biomechanically regulated to drive fate specification?

As model systems, we study the development of two skin appendages—hair follicles and mammary glands—which rely on tightly coordinated biochemical and mechanical crosstalk between the epithelium and the mesenchyme.

Although they share developmental common origins and molecular pathways, they differ in the spatial and temporal dynamics of patterning and maturation into functionally specialized tissues.

Studying these systems together provides a unique platform to uncover both conserved and tissue-specific principles of signal integration in cell fate specification and morphogenesis.

To address these questions, we combine:

• Single-cell transcriptomics

• Advanced imaging

• Controlled mechanical perturbations

• Tissue engineering approaches

This multidisciplinary strategy allows us to investigate how biochemical and mechanical signals are integrated across scales to drive tissue development and morphogenesis.