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Updated: Feb 11, 2026
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Zebrafish Keratocyte Explants to Study Collective Cell Migration and Reepithelialization in Cutaneous Wound Healing
Published on: February 25, 2015
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From jamming to collective cell migration through a boundary induced transition
Oleksandr Chepizhko1, Maria Chiara Lionetti, Chiara Malinverno
1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 21a, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Soft Matter
|May 2, 2018
Summary
Wounded cell layers transition from jammed to flowing states. This unjamming occurs as cells alter their movement and alignment, crossing a critical phase transition point.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Soft Matter Physics
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Cell monolayers exhibit active matter properties, transitioning between flowing and jammed states with age.
- Understanding these dynamic transitions is crucial for tissue development and repair.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanism of rapid unjamming in cell monolayers following a wound.
- To quantitatively compare experimental observations with numerical simulations of cellular dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized experiments and numerical simulations to study cell monolayer behavior.
- Employed finite-size scaling analysis within an active particle model to characterize phase transitions.
- Examined epithelial, endothelial, and cancer cells.
Main Results:
- A wound triggers a rapid reversion from a jammed to a flowing cellular state.
- Cells dynamically adjust their self-propulsion and alignment strengths.
- These adjustments drive the system across a phase transition line, leading to unjamming.
Conclusions:
- Wound-induced unjamming is a generic phenomenon across various cell types.
- The transition is driven by changes in cellular active properties crossing a critical threshold.
- This study provides insights into the collective behavior and adaptability of cell layers.
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