Spontaneous Bending of Hydra Tissue Fragments Driven by Supracellular Actomyosin Bundles

Abstract: Hydra tissue fragments excised freshly from Hydra body bend spontaneously to some quasi-stable shape in several minutes. We propose that the spontaneous bending is driven mechanically by supracellular actomyosin bundles inherited from parent Hydra. An active-laminated-plate model is constructed, from which we predict that the fragment shape characterized by spontaneous curvature is determined by its anisotropy in contractility and elasticity. The inward bending to endoderm side is ensured by the presence of a soft intermediate matrix (mesoglea) layer. The bending process starts diffusively from the edges and relaxes exponentially to the final quasi-stable shape. Two characteristic time scales are identified from the dissipation due to viscous drag and interlayer frictional sliding, respectively. The former is about 0.01 seconds, but the latter is much larger, about several minutes, consistent with experiments.