Contact-mediated signaling enables disorder-driven transitions in cellular assemblies

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how contact-mediated cellular communication and heterogeneity in cell shapes can induce significant changes in tissue patterning and dynamics, revealing disorder-driven transitions in cellular assemblies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel understanding of how cellular heterogeneity influences collective behavior and pattern formation through contact-mediated signaling.

Findings

Disorder in cell shapes causes distinct tissue patterns.

Heterogeneity modulates cell fate decisions via neighborhood geometry.

Contact-induced signals can lead to partially-ordered dynamical states.

Abstract

We show that when cells communicate by contact-mediated interactions, heterogeneity in cell shapes and sizes leads to qualitatively distinct collective behavior in the tissue. For inter-cellular coupling that implements lateral inhibition, such disorder-driven transitions can substantially alter the asymptotic pattern of differentiated cells by modulating their fate choice through changes in the neighborhood geometry. In addition, when contact-induced signals influence inherent cellular oscillations, disorder leads to the emergence of functionally relevant partially-ordered dynamical states.