Dynamic and static analyses of glass-like properties of three-dimensional tissues

TL;DR

This paper extends a 2D tissue model to 3D to explore glass-like mechanical properties and phase transitions, revealing similarities with jamming and glassy materials through dynamic and static analyses.

Contribution

It introduces a 3D model of tissue mechanics that demonstrates phase transitions and glass-like behavior, expanding understanding from 2D to 3D tissues.

Findings

Two mechanical states with a phase transition in 3D tissues.

Similarities between tissue phase transition and glass/jamming transitions.

Static scaling analysis suggests the same upper critical dimension as jamming.

Abstract

The mechanical properties of cells, which influence the properties of the tissue they belong to, are controlled by various mechanisms. Bi et al. theoretically demonstrated that density-independent rigidity transition occurs in two-dimensional confluent tissues that consist of mechanically uniform cells. They also analyzed the dynamical behavior of tissues near the critical point, which is geometrically controlled by `shape parameter'. To investigate whether the behavior of three-dimensional tissues is similar to that of two-dimensional ones, we extend the model proposed by Bi et al. to a three-dimensional one both dynamically and statically. The model reveals that the two mechanical states exist with a phase transition and has some similarities with those of glassy materials. Scaling analysis is applied to the static model focused in the rearrangement viewpoint. The results suggest that the upper critical dimension is also the same as the jamming transition.