Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 26, 2025

In Vitro Model of Physiological and Pathological Blood Flow with Application to Investigations of Vascular Cell Remodeling
Published on: November 3, 2015
Pulsations and flows in tissues as two collective dynamics with simple cellular rules.
Raghavan Thiagarajan1,2,3,4, Alka Bhat1,2,3,4, Guillaume Salbreux5
1Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Illkirch, France.
Epithelial cells exhibit pulsatile or coherent flows during tissue development. These collective cell motions are regulated by cell alignment, polarization, and environmental friction, offering insights into morphogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Collective cell migration is crucial for embryonic development and tissue morphogenesis.
- While tissue-level dynamics are observed, the underlying cellular mechanisms remain poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the physical mechanisms driving local tissue kinematics in epithelial monolayers.
- To identify factors controlling distinct cellular motion patterns like pulsations and flows.
Main Methods:
- Utilized quantitative live imaging of Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell monolayers.
- Employed a unified vertex model to simulate and analyze cellular dynamics.
- Manipulated internal and external cues, including inhibitors and substrate friction.
Main Results:
- Identified two distinct local tissue kinematics: pulsatile flow and long-range coherent flow.
- Demonstrated that pulsatile flow emerges when cell velocity alignment and polarization diffusion are comparable.
- Showed that long-range flows dominate when cell velocity alignment is the primary driver.
Conclusions:
- Cellular velocity alignment, polarization kinetics, and environmental friction are key regulators of epithelial tissue dynamics.
- These factors influence the emergence of pulsatile versus coherent flows during morphogenesis.
- The findings provide a unified model explaining diverse tissue-level behaviors based on cellular mechanics.
More Related Videos
07:13Isolation and Time-Lapse Imaging of Primary Mouse Embryonic Palatal Mesenchyme Cells to Analyze Collective Movement Attributes
Published on: February 13, 2021
06:26Author Spotlight: Advancing Eye Physiology Research via a Multi-Channel Flow Culture for Optimal Tissue Maintenance and Real-Time Assessment
Published on: July 14, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Laminar and Turbulent Flow
Non-equilibrium in the Cell
Blood Flow
Autoregulation of Blood Flow
Chemical Signaling in Autoregulation
Chemical signaling operates at the precapillary sphincter level, inciting either contraction or relaxation....
Steady Flow of a Fluid Stream
During this process, the momentum of the fluid within the control volume remains constant over the time interval dt. By applying the...
Physiological Pharmacokinetic Models: Blood Flow-Limited Versus Diffusion-Limited Models