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Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Characterizing Epithelial Wound Healing In Vivo Using the Cnidarian Model Organism Clytia hemisphaerica
Published on: February 10, 2023
From cells to tissue: A continuum model of epithelial mechanics
Shuji Ishihara1, Philippe Marcq2, Kaoru Sugimura3
1Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan and Department of Physics, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University, Kanagawa 214-8571, Japan.
Abstract:
A two-dimensional continuum model of epithelial tissue mechanics was formulated using cellular-level mechanical ingredients and cell morphogenetic processes, including cellular shape changes and cellular rearrangements. This model incorporates stress and deformation tensors, which can be compared with experimental data. Focusing on the interplay between cell shape changes and cell rearrangements, we elucidated dynamical behavior underlying passive relaxation, active contraction-elongation, and tissue shear flow, including a mechanism for contraction-elongation, whereby tissue flows perpendicularly to the axis of cell elongation. This study provides an integrated scheme for the understanding of the orchestration of morphogenetic processes in individual cells to achieve epithelial tissue morphogenesis.
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