Finite-size corrections to scaling behavior in sorted cell aggregates

Cell sorting is a widespread phenomenon pivotal to the early development of multicellular organisms. In vitro cell sorting studies have been instrumental in revealing the cellular properties driving this process. However, these studies have as yet been limited to two-dimensional analysis of three-dimensional cell sorting events. Here we describe a method to record the sorting of primary zebrafish ectoderm and mesoderm germ layer progenitor cells in three dimensions over time, and quantitatively analyze their sorting behavior using an order parameter related to heterotypic interface length. We investigate the cell population size dependence of sorted aggregates and find that the germ layer progenitor cells engulfed in the final configuration display a relationship between total interfacial length and system size according to a simple geometrical argument, subject to a finite-size effect.