Fig. 4
Image-based data from mutant kidneys supports a ligand–receptor-based Turing mechanism. a–f Analysis of kidney development in a–c FF (Fgf10−/−) and d–f FGS (FGF10+/−;Gdnf+/−;Spry1+/−) mutants. Minimal deviation between the spatial distribution of signalling strengths C and the experimentally measured growth field, E for a, d each time frame (Δ, Eq. (4)) and b, e globally (Δg, Eq. (5)). The colours represent the different models, T1—black, T2—red, T3—green, and T4—blue (see Fig. 3a). c, f The signalling areas (R2L) predicted by the ligand–receptor-based model (solid colour) match the growth fields extracted from the experimental data (vectors). g, h In silico branching morphogenesis of mutant kidneys. The concentration of the ligand–receptor complex, R2L (colour code), defines the local growth speed. The resulting computed branching patterns qualitatively recapitulate those observed during branching morphogenesis of explant kidneys from g FF and h FGS mutants. The model parameters are summarised in Supplementary Table 2
