A developmental stretch-and-fill process that optimises dendritic wiring

A developmental stretch-and-fill process that optimises dendritic wiring | bioRxiv Skip to main content Home About Submit ALERTS / RSS Search for this keyword Advanced Search New Results A developmental stretch-and-fill process that optimises dendritic wiring View ORCID Profile Ryan Rahy , Lothar Baltruschat , View ORCID Profile André Ferreira Castro , View ORCID Profile Peter Jedlicka , View ORCID Profile Gaia Tavosanis , View ORCID Profile Hermann Cuntz doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.07.191064 Ryan Rahy 1 Ernst Strü ngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in cooperation with the Max Planck Society , Frankfurt-am-Main, 60528, Germany 2 Computer-Based Modelling in the field of 3R Animal Protection, Faculty of Medicine, Justus Liebig University Giessen , Giessen, Germany 3 Translational Neuroscience Network Giessen , Germany Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Ryan Rahy Lothar Baltruschat 4 Max-Planck Institute of Biological Intelligence , 82152 Martinsried, Germany 5 Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) , Bonn, Germany Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site André Ferreira Castro 1 Ernst Strü ngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in cooperation with the Max Planck Society , Frankfurt-am-Main, 60528, Germany 6 School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich , Freising 85354, Germany Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for André Ferreira Castro Peter Jedlicka 2 Computer-Based Modelling in the field of 3R Animal Protection, Faculty of Medicine, Justus Liebig University Giessen , Giessen, Germany 3 Translational Neuroscience Network Giessen , Germany 7 Dr. Senckenberg Anatomy, Neuroscience Center, Goethe University , Frankfurt Main, Germany Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Peter Jedlicka Gaia Tavosanis 4 Max-Planck Institute of Biological Intelligence , 82152 Martinsried, Germany 5 Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) , Bonn, Germany 8 Institute of Developmental Biology/ BioII, RWTH Aachen University , Germany Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Gaia Tavosanis For correspondence: gaia{at}devbiol.rwth-aachen.de Hermann Cuntz 1 Ernst Strü ngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in cooperation with the Max Planck Society , Frankfurt-am-Main, 60528, Germany 2 Computer-Based Modelling in the field of 3R Animal Protection, Faculty of Medicine, Justus Liebig University Giessen , Giessen, Germany 3 Translational Neuroscience Network Giessen , Germany 4 Max-Planck Institute of Biological Intelligence , 82152 Martinsried, Germany 9 Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies , Frankfurt-am-Main, 60438, Germany Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Hermann Cuntz For correspondence: hermann.neuro{at}gmail.com Abstract Full Text Info/History Metrics Supplementary material Preview PDF Summary Circuit connectivity and computation depend on how dendrites branch and occupy space within neural tissue. While optimal wiring principles have long been known to constrain dendritic morphology and their scaling behaviour, the growth dynamics that produce such optimised structures remain unclear. Leveraging structural imaging across development, we identify two complementary growth strategies – inside-out versus outside-in – that together generate mature dendritic arbours. We formalise these dynamics in a mathematical model that captures the two growth modes and show that their interplay yields wiring-efficient, space-filling morphologies and class-specific developmental trajectories across species. This framework provides an algorithmic account of how local branching dynamics give rise to globally optimised architectures. By linking dendritic growth rules to functional design constraints, our theory offers a unifying description of dendritic differentiation and a basis for understanding how coverage and connectivity emerge during neural circuit formation. In brief We derive a detailed mathematical model that describes long-term time-lapse data of growing dendrites; it optimises total wiring and space-filling. Highlights Fly neurons stretch and fill a given target area with precise scaling relations. We observe a sequence of two growth strategies. Each growth type implements optimal wiring which leads to optimal space filling. A model combining these programs captures the development of dendritic structures. Download figure Open in new tab Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Footnotes ↵ 11 Lead contact This is a significant revision including new analyses, new modelling, rewriting of the text and new figures. Funder Information Declared Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, https://ror.org/018mejw64 , CU217/2-1 Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung , 60-0102-01.P636 Copyright The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license . Back to top Previous Next Posted March 15, 2026. Download PDF Supplementary Material Email Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv. NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article. Your Email * Your Name * Send To * Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas. 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