# Collective stresses drive competition between monolayers of normal and Ras-transformed cells

## TL;DR

This study investigates how Ras-transformed cells outcompete normal cells during collective migration by analyzing interface dynamics and traction forces, revealing that transformed cells exert larger stresses that drive competition.

## Contribution

It introduces a hydrodynamic model to interpret cell migration and stresses, demonstrating how transformed cells dominate normal cells through collective forces.

## Key findings

- Transformed cells exert larger collective stresses.
- The interface moves towards normal cells after contact.
- Hydrodynamic modeling explains cell competition dynamics.

## Abstract

We study the competition for space between two cell lines that differ only in the expression of the Ras oncogene. The two cell populations are initially separated and set to migrate antagonistically towards an in-between stripe of free substrate. After contact, their interface moves towards the population of normal cells. We interpret the velocity and traction force data taken before and after contact thanks to a hydrodynamic description of collectively migrating cohesive cell sheets. The kinematics of cells, before and after contact, allows us to estimate the relative material parameters for both cell lines. As predicted by the model, the transformed cell population with larger collective stresses pushes the wild type cell population.