Lou Y, Rupprecht JF, Theis S, Hiraiwa T, Saunders TE. Curvature-Induced Cell Rearrangements in Biological Tissues.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2023;
130:108401. [PMID:
36962052 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.130.108401]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
On a curved surface, epithelial cells can adapt to geometric constraints by tilting and by exchanging their neighbors from apical to basal sides, known as an apico-basal topological transition 1 (AB-T1). The relationship between cell tilt, AB-T1s, and tissue curvature still lacks a unified understanding. Here, we propose a general framework for cell packing in curved environments and explain the formation of AB-T1s from the perspective of strain anisotropy. We find that steep curvature gradients can lead to cell tilting and induce AB-T1s. Alternatively, pressure differences across the epithelial tissue can drive AB-T1s in regions of large curvature anisotropy. The two mechanisms compete to determine the impact of tissue geometry and mechanics on optimized cell rearrangements in three dimensions.
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