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Related Experiment Video

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Quantitative Analysis of Cell Edge Dynamics during Cell Spreading

Quantitative Analysis of Cell Edge Dynamics during Cell Spreading

Published on: May 22, 2021

Active Instability and Nonlinear Dynamics of Cell-Cell Junctions.

Matej Krajnc¹, Tomer Stern^2,3, Clément Zankoc¹

¹Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Physical Review Letters

|November 19, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cell junctions remodel actively, driving tissue shape changes. Our mechanical model reveals how junction dynamics and tissue elasticity govern cell intercalation and collective behaviors like ordering and oscillations.

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Area of Science:

Biophysics
Developmental Biology
Soft Matter Physics

Background:

Active cell-junction remodeling is crucial for tissue morphogenesis.
The physical principles governing this process remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the physics of active cell-junction remodeling using a mechanical model.
To understand how junction dynamics and tissue elasticity influence cell intercalation and collective behaviors.

Main Methods:

Developed a mechanical model representing cell junctions as dynamic active force dipoles.
Analyzed the model's behavior, considering nonlinear elastic responses of the tissue.
Investigated collective instabilities in active junction networks.

Main Results:

Junction instability can induce cell intercalation via critical collapse.
Nonlinear tissue elasticity stabilizes collapse through limit cycles or condensation.
Active junction networks exhibit collective instability, leading to in-plane ordering or oscillatory dynamics.

Conclusions:

The mechanical model provides insights into the physical mechanisms of active cell-junction remodeling.
Tissue elasticity plays a key role in stabilizing dynamic cellular processes.
Collective instabilities in junction networks drive large-scale tissue organization and dynamics.