Final answer:
The patterning mechanism that creates asymmetrical patterns in cells involves the anisotropic, long-range interactions of cell dipoles, influenced by external factors like substrate geometry and rigidity. Monte Carlo simulations and experiments with micropatterned substrates demonstrate this relationship. The interactions and external conditions drive the self-assembly and spatial organization of cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
The patterning mechanism that generates asymmetrical patterns of cells from an initial noisy field involves the interaction of cell dipoles with the extracellular environment. Anisotropic and long-range interactions of these dipoles can self-assemble into complex structures, with Monte Carlo simulations predicting cellular structure formation on elastic substrates as a function of this interaction. Further intricacies of the process are revealed through analyzing the spatial coordination of structures such as lamellipodia, stress fibers, and cell adhesions, and the effects of substrate geometry on cell shape and division patterns.
Additionally, micropatterned substrates have become a standard technique to investigate the spatial organization of cells. Coarse-grained models based on force dipoles seek to explain phenomena such as cell orientation and polarization, taking into account cell shape and substrate rigidity. Cells cultured on substrates of varying stiffness displayed stress-fiber polarization that was dependent on the substrates' rigidity, showing the relevance of external conditions in cell patterning.
Force dipoles contained within the cells, described as short actomyosin minifilaments, contribute to the asymmetrical division and organization, which is evident in phenomena like stem cell orientation and Hox gene-directed body plan development in organisms like Drosophila. Experiments have shown the crucial role of the environment, with alignment of structures such as stress fibers being influenced by the rigidity and shape of the cell's surrounding.