Flocking transitions in confluent tissues

Fabio Giavazzi, Matteo Paoluzzi, Marta Macchi, Dapeng Bi, Giorgio Scita, M. Lisa Manning, Roberto Cerbino, M. Cristina Marchetti

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

110 Scopus citations

Abstract

Collective cell migration in dense tissues underlies important biological processes, such as embryonic development, wound healing and cancer invasion. While many aspects of single cell movements are now well established, the mechanisms leading to displacements of cohesive cell groups are still poorly understood. To elucidate the emergence of collective migration in mechanosensitive cells, we examine a self-propelled Voronoi (SPV) model of confluent tissues with an orientational feedback that aligns a cell's polarization with its local migration velocity. While shape and motility are known to regulate a density-independent liquid-solid transition in tissues, we find that aligning interactions facilitate collective motion and promote solidification, with transitions that can be predicted by extending statistical physics tools such as effective temperature to this far-from-equilibrium system. In addition to accounting for recent experimental observations obtained with epithelial monolayers, our model predicts structural and dynamical signatures of flocking, which may serve as gateway to a more quantitative characterization of collective motility.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3471-3477
Number of pages7
JournalSoft Matter
Volume14
Issue number18
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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