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Hydrodynamics of shape-driven rigidity transitions in motile tissues
Michael Czajkowski1, Dapeng Bi, M Lisa Manning
1Department of Physics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA. mdczajko@syr.edu.
Soft Matter
|June 26, 2018
Summary
This study introduces a new model where cell shape influences tissue stiffness, controlling cell movement and polarization. This allows tuning tissue behavior from uniform states to complex patterns like asters.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Cell Biology
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Mechanical cues regulate biological tissue patterns.
- Cell polarization and motility may be influenced by tissue shear stiffness (plithotaxis).
- Cell shape directly correlates with tissue shear modulus in confluent tissues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a hydrodynamic model coupling cell shape, tissue stiffness, and cell motility/polarization.
- To investigate how these coupled factors influence tissue-level organization.
- To identify parameters controlling transitions between homogeneous and patterned tissue states.
Main Methods:
- Hydrodynamic modeling.
- Linear stability analysis.
- Numerical simulations.
Main Results:
- A composite 'morphotaxis' parameter governs tissue behavior.
- Tissue behavior can transition between homogeneous and patterned states (e.g., asters).
- The morphotaxis parameter depends on cell migration in response to shear modulus gradients and polarization's effect on tissue fluidity.
Conclusions:
- Cell shape-driven changes in tissue stiffness play a critical role in regulating cell behavior and tissue patterning.
- The developed model provides a framework for understanding and predicting emergent tissue structures.
- The morphotaxis parameter offers an experimentally accessible handle to control tissue organization.
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