During embryonic development, epithelial cells help bend and shape new tissue to form organs. Researchers found epithelial cells use a previously unknown geometric shape, called a scutoid, to efficiently package and organize blocks of cells into layers of skin, blood vessels and organs.

Until recently, scientists thought epithelial cells' packaging abilities relied on columnar, or bottle-like shapes, but Voronoi diagramming, a type of computer modeling designed to analyze geometrical organization, revealed an entirely new shape.

"During the modeling process, the results we saw were weird," Javier Buceta, a bioengineer at Lehigh University, said in a news release. "Our model predicted that as the curvature of the tissue increases, columns and bottle-shapes were not the only shapes that cells may developed. To our surprise the additional shape didn't even have a name in math! One does not normally have the opportunity to name a new shape."

Scientists named the newly identified shape scutoid because it looks like the scutellum, the posterior part of an insect's thorax.

"Scutoids are characterized by having at least a vertex in a different plane to the two bases and present curved surfaces," researchers wrote.

When researchers looked for observational evidence of scutoid packaging among the cells of different animals, they were able to confirm the predictions of their computer model. Scientists argue the unique shape allows cells to organize themselves using as little energy as possible.

"We have unlocked nature's solution to achieving efficient epithelial bending," Buceta said.

Previous research has helped scientists understand how cells organize themselves within, and the latest research -- detailed in the journal Nature -- has offered new insights into how cells organize themselves to form new tissue.

Understanding the biomechanics of cellular and tissue organization could help scientists more effectively engineer tissue and build organs in the lab.

"For example, if you are looking to grow artificial organs, this discovery could help you build a scaffold to encourage this kind of cell packing, accurately mimicking nature's way to efficiently develop tissues," Buceta said.

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