Fluid mechanics of mosaic ciliated tissues

TL;DR

This study explores how the arrangement of multiciliated cells in tissues influences fluid transport, revealing that hydrodynamic interactions favor low coverage for efficient shear, with implications for understanding tissue evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a coarse-grained model of MCCs as active vortices, highlighting the role of hydrodynamic interactions in optimizing tissue shear at low cell coverage.

Findings

Hydrodynamic interactions limit MCC work rate at large tissue sizes.

Optimal tissue shear occurs at low MCC area coverage.

MCC behavior modeled as active vortices accurately predicts flow fields.

Abstract

In tissues as diverse as amphibian skin and the human airway, the cilia that propel fluid are grouped in sparsely distributed multiciliated cells (MCCs). We investigate fluid transport in this "mosaic" architecture, with emphasis on the trade-offs that may have been responsible for its evolutionary selection. Live imaging of MCCs in embryos of the frog $Xenopus~laevis$ shows that cilia bundles behave as active vortices that produce a flow field accurately represented by a local force applied to the fluid. A coarse-grained model that self-consistently couples bundles to the ambient flow reveals that hydrodynamic interactions between MCCs limit their rate of work so that when the system size is large compared to a single MCC, they best shear the tissue at low area coverage, a result that mirrors findings for other sparse distributions such as cell receptors and leaf stomata.