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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
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Published on: February 13, 2021
Cell division sets a universal flow geometry in cell layers
Tianxiang Ma1, Lasse Bonn1, Valeriia Grudtsyna1
1Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark.
Summary
Cell division regulates collective tissue flows by controlling cell network flexibility, maintaining universal flow organization and emergent physical symmetries. Suppressing division disrupts this organization and geometric properties.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Collective flows in epithelial tissues exhibit vortical interfaces with critical percolation and conformal invariance.
- The influence of fundamental cellular processes on this symmetry-rich flow geometry is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of cell division in regulating collective tissue flow organization.
- To determine how cell division impacts the geometric and mechanical flexibility of the cell-cell network.
Main Methods:
- Pharmacological perturbations to suppress cell proliferation and apoptosis.
- Quantitative analysis using a vertex model with tunable division parameters.
- Assessment of flow persistence, neighbor exchanges, and geometric properties.
Main Results:
- Suppression of cell proliferation disrupts conformally invariant geometry and reduces neighbor exchanges, while coherent flows persist.
- Apoptosis inhibition does not affect flow universality, highlighting cell division as the key regulator.
- A vertex model accurately reproduces these effects, restoring conformal invariance when division is enabled.
Conclusions:
- Cell division acts as a crucial physical regulator of collective tissue self-organization, beyond its role in growth.
- Divisions provide topological renewals, enhancing network flexibility and enabling large-scale rearrangements.
- This study connects fundamental biological processes to emergent physical symmetries in cellular collectives.
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