Universal statistics of epithelial tissue topology

TL;DR

This paper reveals that the universal distribution of cell edges in epithelial tissues results from an exponential increase in division probability with the number of edges, supported by experiments, simulations, and analytical models.

Contribution

It introduces a new understanding of how cell division probabilities shape tissue topology, challenging previous models that couldn't predict the observed distributions.

Findings

Division probability increases exponentially with cell edges.

The observed tissue topology distribution is explained by this exponential relationship.

Experimental and simulation data support the analytical model.

Abstract

Cells forming various epithelial tissues have a strikingly universal distribution for the number of their edges. It is generally assumed that this topological feature is predefined by the statistics of individual cell divisions in growing tissue but existing theoretical models are unable to predict the observed distribution. Here we show experimentally, as well as in simulations, that the probability of cellular division increases exponentially with the number of edges of the dividing cell and show analytically that this is responsible for the observed shape of cell-edge distribution.