Confluent and non-confluent phases in a model of cell tissue

TL;DR

This paper extends a cellular tissue model to include partial contact between cells, identifying new phases and transitions that could inform understanding of development and cancer metastasis.

Contribution

The model is generalized to allow partial contact, revealing novel phases and transitions in cell tissue behavior beyond previous confluent models.

Findings

Identified solid and liquid confluent phases.

Discovered new phases with partial contact.

Transitions may relate to development and metastasis.

Abstract

The Voronoi-based cellular model is highly successful in describing the motion of two-dimensional confluent cell tissues. In the homogeneous version of this model, the energy of each cell is determined solely by its geometric shape and size, and the interaction between adjacent cells is a byproduct of this additive energy. We generalize this model so as to allow zero or partial contact between cells. We identify several phases, two of which (solid confluent and liquid confluent) were found in previous studies that imposed confluency but others that are novel. Transitions in this model may be relevant for understanding both normal development as well as cancer metastasis.