Active forces in confluent cell monolayers

TL;DR

This paper uses a computational model and analysis to explore how active forces between cells influence cell shape and collective movement in a monolayer, revealing different behaviors based on the nature of inter-cellular forces.

Contribution

It introduces a combined computational and analytical approach to understand how active inter-cellular forces affect cell morphology and collective dynamics in confluent monolayers.

Findings

Contractile forces cause cell elongation and active turbulence.

Extensile forces lead to frustration and perpendicular orientations.

Anisotropic shape fluctuations can switch behavior from contractile to extensile.

Abstract

We use a computational phase-field model together with analytical analysis to study how inter-cellular active forces can mediate individual cell morphology and collective motion in a confluent cell monolayer. Contractile inter-cellular interactions lead to cell elongation, nematic ordering and active turbulence, characterised by motile topological defects. Extensile interactions result in frustration, and perpendicular cell orientations become more prevalent. Furthermore, we show that contractile behaviour can change to extensile behaviour if anisotropic fluctuations in cell shape are considered.