1
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Nejad MR, Ruske LJ, McCord M, Zhang J, Zhang G, Notbohm J, Yeomans JM. Stress-shape misalignment in confluent cell layers. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3628. [PMID: 38684651 PMCID: PMC11059169 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47702-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
In tissue formation and repair, the epithelium undergoes complex patterns of motion driven by the active forces produced by each cell. Although the principles governing how the forces evolve in time are not yet clear, it is often assumed that the contractile stresses within the cell layer align with the axis defined by the body of each cell. Here, we simultaneously measured the orientations of the cell shape and the cell-generated contractile stresses, observing correlated, dynamic domains in which the stresses were systematically misaligned with the cell body. We developed a continuum model that decouples the orientations of contractile stress and cell body. The model recovered the spatial and temporal dynamics of the regions of misalignment in the experiments. These findings reveal that the cell controls its contractile forces independently from its shape, suggesting that the physical rules relating cell forces and cell shape are more flexible than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehrana R Nejad
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
| | - Liam J Ruske
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
| | - Molly McCord
- Biophysics Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jun Zhang
- Biophysics Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Guanming Zhang
- Center for Soft Matter Research, Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Simons Center for Computational Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Jacob Notbohm
- Biophysics Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
- Department of Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
| | - Julia M Yeomans
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
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2
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Lien JC, Wang YL. Cyclic stretching combined with cell-cell adhesion is sufficient for inducing cell intercalation. Biophys J 2023; 122:3146-3158. [PMID: 37408306 PMCID: PMC10432222 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the important role of cell intercalation within a collective has long been recognized particularly for morphogenesis, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here we investigate the possibility that cellular responses to cyclic stretching play a major role in this process. By applying synchronized imaging and cyclic stretching to epithelial cells cultured on micropatterned polyacrylamide (PAA) substrates, we discovered that uniaxial cyclic stretching induces cell intercalation along with cell shape change and cell-cell interfacial remodeling. The process involved intermediate steps as previously reported for cell intercalation during embryonic morphogenesis, including the appearance of cell vertices, anisotropic vertex resolution, and directional expansion of cell-cell interface. Using mathematical modeling, we further found that cell shape change in conjunction with dynamic cell-cell adhesions was sufficient to account for the observations. Further investigation with small-molecule inhibitors indicated that disruption of myosin II activities suppressed cyclic stretching-induced intercalation while inhibiting the appearance of oriented vertices. Inhibition of Wnt signaling did not suppress stretch-induced cell shape change but disrupted cell intercalation and vertex resolution. Our results suggest that cyclic stretching, by inducing cell shape change and reorientation in the presence of dynamic cell-cell adhesions, can induce at least some aspects of cell intercalation and that this process is dependent in distinct ways on myosin II activities and Wnt signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jui-Chien Lien
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Yu-Li Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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3
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Han E, Fei C, Alert R, Copenhagen K, Koch MD, Wingreen NS, Shaevitz JW. Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in developing Myxococcus xanthus colonies. ArXiv 2023:arXiv:2308.00368v1. [PMID: 37576128 PMCID: PMC10418523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Colonies of the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus go through a morphological transition from a thin colony of cells to three-dimensional droplet-like fruiting bodies as a strategy to survive starvation. The biological pathways that control the decision to form a fruiting body have been studied extensively. However, the mechanical events that trigger the creation of multiple cell layers and give rise to droplet formation remain poorly understood. By measuring cell orientation, velocity, polarity, and force with cell-scale resolution, we reveal a stochastic local polar order in addition to the more obvious nematic order. Average cell velocity and active force at topological defects agree with predictions from active nematic theory, but their fluctuations are anomalously large due to polar active forces generated by the self-propelled rod-shaped cells. We find that M. xanthus cells adjust their reversal frequency to tune the magnitude of this local polar order, which in turn controls the mechanical stresses and triggers layer formation in the colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Endao Han
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Chenyi Fei
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Ricard Alert
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzerstraße 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Pfotenhauerstraße 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, TU Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
| | - Katherine Copenhagen
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Matthias D. Koch
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Ned S. Wingreen
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Joshua W. Shaevitz
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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4
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Lin SZ, Merkel M, Rupprecht JF. Structure and Rheology in Vertex Models under Cell-Shape-Dependent Active Stresses. Phys Rev Lett 2023; 130:058202. [PMID: 36800465 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.130.058202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Biological cells can actively tune their intracellular architecture according to their overall shape. Here we explore the rheological implication of such coupling in a minimal model of a dense cellular material where each cell exerts an active mechanical stress along its axis of elongation. Increasing the active stress amplitude leads to several transitions. An initially hexagonal crystal motif is first destabilized into a solid with anisotropic cells whose shear modulus eventually vanishes at a first critical activity. Increasing activity beyond this first critical value, we find a re-entrant transition to a regime with finite hexatic order and finite shear modulus, in which cells arrange according to a rhombile pattern with periodically arranged rosette structures. The shear modulus vanishes again at a third threshold beyond which spontaneous tissue flows and topological defects of the nematic cell shape field arise. Flow and stress fields around the defects agree with active nematic theory, with either contractile or extensile signs, as also observed in several epithelial tissue experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shao-Zhen Lin
- Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, Centre de Physique Théorique, Turing Center for Living Systems, Marseille, France
| | - Matthias Merkel
- Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, Centre de Physique Théorique, Turing Center for Living Systems, Marseille, France
| | - Jean-François Rupprecht
- Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, Centre de Physique Théorique, Turing Center for Living Systems, Marseille, France
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5
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Ascione F, Caserta S, Esposito S, Villella VR, Maiuri L, Nejad MR, Doostmohammadi A, Yeomans JM, Guido S. Collective rotational motion of freely expanding T84 epithelial cell colonies. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20220719. [PMID: 36872917 PMCID: PMC9943890 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Coordinated rotational motion is an intriguing, yet still elusive mode of collective cell migration, which is relevant in pathological and morphogenetic processes. Most of the studies on this topic have been carried out on epithelial cells plated on micropatterned substrates, where cell motion is confined in regions of well-defined shapes coated with extracellular matrix adhesive proteins. The driver of collective rotation in such conditions has not been clearly elucidated, although it has been speculated that spatial confinement can play an essential role in triggering cell rotation. Here, we study the growth of epithelial cell colonies freely expanding (i.e. with no physical constraints) on the surface of cell culture plates and focus on collective cell rotation in such conditions, a case which has received scarce attention in the literature. One of the main findings of our work is that coordinated cell rotation spontaneously occurs in cell clusters in the free growth regime, thus implying that cell confinement is not necessary to elicit collective rotation as previously suggested. The extent of collective rotation was size and shape dependent: a highly coordinated disc-like rotation was found in small cell clusters with a round shape, while collective rotation was suppressed in large irregular cell clusters generated by merging of different clusters in the course of their growth. The angular motion was persistent in the same direction, although clockwise and anticlockwise rotations were equally likely to occur among different cell clusters. Radial cell velocity was quite low as compared to the angular velocity, in agreement with the free expansion regime where cluster growth is essentially governed by cell proliferation. A clear difference in morphology was observed between cells at the periphery and the ones in the core of the clusters, the former being more elongated and spread out as compared to the latter. Overall, our results, to our knowledge, provide the first quantitative and systematic evidence that coordinated cell rotation does not require a spatial confinement and occurs spontaneously in freely expanding epithelial cell colonies, possibly as a mechanism for the system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flora Ascione
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale (DICMAPI), Università di Napoli Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy
| | - Sergio Caserta
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale (DICMAPI), Università di Napoli Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Speranza Esposito
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale (DICMAPI), Università di Napoli Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy
- European Institute for Research in Cystic Fibrosis, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Valeria Rachela Villella
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale (DICMAPI), Università di Napoli Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy
- European Institute for Research in Cystic Fibrosis, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Luigi Maiuri
- European Institute for Research in Cystic Fibrosis, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Mehrana R. Nejad
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK
| | | | - Julia M. Yeomans
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK
| | - Stefano Guido
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale (DICMAPI), Università di Napoli Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy
- CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
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6
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Sonam S, Balasubramaniam L, Lin SZ, Ivan YMY, Jaumà IP, Jebane C, Karnat M, Toyama Y, Marcq P, Prost J, Mège RM, Rupprecht JF, Ladoux B. Mechanical stress driven by rigidity sensing governs epithelial stability. Nat Phys 2023; 19:132-141. [PMID: 36686215 PMCID: PMC7614076 DOI: 10.1038/s41567-022-01826-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Epithelia act as a barrier against environmental stress and abrasion and in vivo they are continuously exposed to environments of various mechanical properties. The impact of this environment on epithelial integrity remains elusive. By culturing epithelial cells on 2D hydrogels, we observe a loss of epithelial monolayer integrity through spontaneous hole formation when grown on soft substrates. Substrate stiffness triggers an unanticipated mechanical switch of epithelial monolayers from tensile on soft to compressive on stiff substrates. Through active nematic modelling, we find that spontaneous half-integer defect formation underpinning large isotropic stress fluctuations initiate hole opening events. Our data show that monolayer rupture due to high tensile stress is promoted by the weakening of cell-cell junctions that could be induced by cell division events or local cellular stretching. Our results show that substrate stiffness provides feedback on monolayer mechanical state and that topological defects can trigger stochastic mechanical failure, with potential application towards a mechanistic understanding of compromised epithelial integrity during immune response and morphogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surabhi Sonam
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, F-75006 Paris, France
| | | | - Shao-Zhen Lin
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, CPT, Turing Center for Living Systems, Marseille, France
| | | | - Irina Pi Jaumà
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Cecile Jebane
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Marc Karnat
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, CPT, Turing Center for Living Systems, Marseille, France
| | - Yusuke Toyama
- Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Philippe Marcq
- Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL University, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Jacques Prost
- Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Physico-Chimie Curie, Institut Curie, CNRS UMR 168, Paris, France
| | - René-Marc Mège
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Jean-François Rupprecht
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, CPT, Turing Center for Living Systems, Marseille, France
- Corresponding authors Dr. Benoit Ladoux, , Dr. Jean-François Rupprecht,
| | - Benoît Ladoux
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod, F-75006 Paris, France
- Corresponding authors Dr. Benoit Ladoux, , Dr. Jean-François Rupprecht,
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7
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Zhang YX, Liu CY, Chen HY, I L. Spontaneous multi-scale void formation and closure in densifying epithelial and fibroblast monolayers from the sub-confluent state. Eur Phys J E Soft Matter 2022; 45:89. [PMID: 36346482 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-022-00242-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Using time-lapse phase contrast microscopy, the formation and closure of spontaneously generated voids in the densifying monolayers of isotropic epithelial cells (ECs) and elongated fibroblast cells (FCs) through proliferation from the sub-confluent state are investigated. It is found that, in both types of monolayers after forming a connected network composed of nematic patches with different orientations, numerous multi-scale voids can be spontaneously formed and gradually close with increasing time. The isotropic fluctuations of deformation and crawling of ECs and the anisotropic axial motion/alignment polarizations of FCs are the two keys leading to the following different generic dynamical behaviors. In EC monolayers, voids exhibit irregular boundary fluctuations and easier cell re-orientation of front layer cells (FLCs) surrounding void boundaries. Void closures are mainly through pinching the gap between the opposite fluctuating void boundaries, and the inward crawling of FLCs to reduce void area associated with topological rearrangement to reduce FLC number. In FC monolayers, large voids have piecewise smooth convex boundaries, and cusp-shaped concave boundaries with cells orienting toward the void at cusp tips. The extension of a thin cell bridge from the cusp tip can bisect a large void into smaller voids. For smaller FC voids dominated by convex boundaries, along which cell alignment prohibits inward crawling, the reduction of FLC number through successive outward squeezing of single FLCs by neighboring FLCs sliding along the void boundary plays an important role for topological rearrangement and void closure. Unlike those surrounding artificial wounds in dense EC monolayers, the absence of ring-like purse-strings surrounding EC and FC voids allows topological rearrangements for reducing void perimeter and void area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Xuan Zhang
- Department of Physics and Center for Complex Systems, National Central University, Jhongli, 32001, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Yu Liu
- Department of Physics and Center for Complex Systems, National Central University, Jhongli, 32001, Taiwan
| | - Hsiang-Ying Chen
- Department of Physics and Center for Complex Systems, National Central University, Jhongli, 32001, Taiwan
| | - Lin I
- Department of Physics and Center for Complex Systems, National Central University, Jhongli, 32001, Taiwan.
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8
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Thiagarajan R, Bhat A, Salbreux G, Inamdar MM, Riveline D. Pulsations and flows in tissues as two collective dynamics with simple cellular rules. iScience 2022; 25:105053. [PMID: 36204277 PMCID: PMC9531052 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Collective motions of epithelial cells are essential for morphogenesis. Tissues elongate, contract, flow, and oscillate, thus sculpting embryos. These tissue level dynamics are known, but the physical mechanisms at the cellular level are unclear. Here, we demonstrate that a single epithelial monolayer of MDCK cells can exhibit two types of local tissue kinematics, pulsations and long range coherent flows, characterized by using quantitative live imaging. We report that these motions can be controlled with internal and external cues such as specific inhibitors and substrate friction modulation. We demonstrate the associated mechanisms with a unified vertex model. When cell velocity alignment and random diffusion of cell polarization are comparable, a pulsatile flow emerges whereas tissue undergoes long-range flows when velocity alignment dominates which is consistent with cytoskeletal dynamics measurements. We propose that environmental friction, acto-myosin distributions, and cell polarization kinetics are important in regulating dynamics of tissue morphogenesis. Two collective cell motions, pulsations and flows, coexist in MDCK monolayers Each collective movement is identified using divergence and velocity correlations Motion is controlled by the regulation of substrate friction and cytoskeleton A vertex model recapitulates the motion by tuning velocity and polarity alignment
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Affiliation(s)
- Raghavan Thiagarajan
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Illkirch, France
- Laboratory of Cell Physics ISIS/IGBMC, CNRS and Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR7104, Illkirch, France
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U964, Illkirch, France
| | - Alka Bhat
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Illkirch, France
- Laboratory of Cell Physics ISIS/IGBMC, CNRS and Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR7104, Illkirch, France
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U964, Illkirch, France
| | | | - Mandar M. Inamdar
- Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
- Corresponding author
| | - Daniel Riveline
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Illkirch, France
- Laboratory of Cell Physics ISIS/IGBMC, CNRS and Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR7104, Illkirch, France
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U964, Illkirch, France
- Corresponding author
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9
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Huang J, Cochran JO, Fielding SM, Marchetti MC, Bi D. Shear-Driven Solidification and Nonlinear Elasticity in Epithelial Tissues. Phys Rev Lett 2022; 128:178001. [PMID: 35570431 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.128.178001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Biological processes, from morphogenesis to tumor invasion, spontaneously generate shear stresses inside living tissue. The mechanisms that govern the transmission of mechanical forces in epithelia and the collective response of the tissue to bulk shear deformations remain, however, poorly understood. Using a minimal cell-based computational model, we investigate the constitutive relation of confluent tissues under simple shear deformation. We show that an initially undeformed fluidlike tissue acquires finite rigidity above a critical applied strain. This is akin to the shear-driven rigidity observed in other soft matter systems. Interestingly, shear-driven rigidity can be understood by a critical scaling analysis in the vicinity of the second order critical point that governs the liquid-solid transition of the undeformed system. We further show that a solidlike tissue responds linearly only to small strains and but then switches to a nonlinear response at larger stains, with substantial stiffening. Finally, we propose a mean-field formulation for cells under shear that offers a simple physical explanation of shear-driven rigidity and nonlinear response in a tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junxiang Huang
- Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - James O Cochran
- Department of Physics, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Suzanne M Fielding
- Department of Physics, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - M Cristina Marchetti
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
| | - Dapeng Bi
- Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
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10
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Balasubramaniam L, Mège RM, Ladoux B. Active nematics across scales from cytoskeleton organization to tissue morphogenesis. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2022; 73:101897. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2021.101897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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11
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Duclut C, Paijmans J, Inamdar MM, Modes CD, Jülicher F. Active T1 transitions in cellular networks. Eur Phys J E Soft Matter 2022; 45:29. [PMID: 35320447 PMCID: PMC8942949 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-022-00175-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
In amorphous solids as in tissues, neighbor exchanges can relax local stresses and allow the material to flow. In this paper, we use an anisotropic vertex model to study T1 rearrangements in polygonal cellular networks. We consider two different physical realizations of the active anisotropic stresses: (i) anisotropic bond tension and (ii) anisotropic cell stress. Interestingly, the two types of active stress lead to patterns of relative orientation of T1 transitions and cell elongation that are different. Our work suggests that these two realizations of anisotropic active stresses can be observed in vivo. We describe and explain these results through the lens of a continuum description of the tissue as an anisotropic active material. We furthermore discuss the energetics of the dynamic tissue and express the energy balance in terms of internal elastic energy, mechanical work, chemical work and heat. This allows us to define active T1 transitions that can perform mechanical work while consuming chemical energy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlie Duclut
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 8, 01187, Dresden, Germany
| | - Joris Paijmans
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 8, 01187, Dresden, Germany
| | - Mandar M Inamdar
- Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India
| | - Carl D Modes
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), 01307, Dresden, Germany
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307, Dresden, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence, Physics of Life, TU Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Frank Jülicher
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 8, 01187, Dresden, Germany.
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
- Cluster of Excellence, Physics of Life, TU Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
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12
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Lin SZ, Merkel M, Rupprecht JF. Implementation of cellular bulk stresses in vertex models of biological tissues. Eur Phys J E Soft Matter 2022; 45:4. [PMID: 35038043 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00154-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Vertex models describe biological tissues as tilings of polygons. In standard vertex models, the tissue dynamics result from a balance between isotropic stresses, which are associated with the bulk of the cells, and tensions associated with cell-cell interfaces. However, in this framework it is less obvious how to describe anisotropic stresses arising from the bulk of cells. In epithelia, such bulk anisotropic stresses could arise for instance through medial myosin fluctuations. Two recent publications-Tlili et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116(51):25430-25439, 2019) and Comelles et al. (eLife 10:e57730, 2021)-have proposed different schemes to implement bulk anisotropic stresses in vertex models. Here we show that while both schemes transform in the same way under affine deformations, they lead to significantly different tissue dynamics. Our results are consistent with the interpretation that the Tilli et al. scheme describes bulk stresses that are uniform within each cell, while the Comelles et al. scheme corresponds to non-uniform bulk stresses. Finally, we wondered whether a standard vertex model can be fully expressed in terms of bulk cellular stresses alone. We find that, in general, neither scheme can mimic the vertex forces created by cell-cell interface tensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shao-Zhen Lin
- CNRS and Turing Center for Living Systems, Centre de Physique Théorique, Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, 13009, Marseille, France
| | - Matthias Merkel
- CNRS and Turing Center for Living Systems, Centre de Physique Théorique, Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, 13009, Marseille, France
| | - Jean-Francois Rupprecht
- CNRS and Turing Center for Living Systems, Centre de Physique Théorique, Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, 13009, Marseille, France.
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13
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Balasubramaniam L, Mège RM, Ladoux B. Active forces modulate collective behaviour and cellular organization. C R Biol 2021; 344:325-335. [DOI: 10.5802/crbiol.65] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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14
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Duclut C, Paijmans J, Inamdar MM, Modes CD, Jülicher F. Nonlinear rheology of cellular networks. Cells Dev 2021; 168:203746. [PMID: 34592496 DOI: 10.1016/j.cdev.2021.203746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 06/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Morphogenesis depends crucially on the complex rheological properties of cell tissues and on their ability to maintain mechanical integrity while rearranging at long times. In this paper, we study the rheology of polygonal cellular networks described by a vertex model in the presence of fluctuations. We use a triangulation method to decompose shear into cell shape changes and cell rearrangements. Considering the steady-state stress under constant shear, we observe nonlinear shear-thinning behavior at all magnitudes of the fluctuations, and an even stronger nonlinear regime at lower values of the fluctuations. We successfully capture this nonlinear rheology by a mean-field model that describes the tissue in terms of cell elongation and cell rearrangements. We furthermore introduce anisotropic active stresses in the vertex model and analyze their effect on rheology. We include this anisotropy in the mean-field model and show that it recapitulates the behavior observed in the simulations. Our work clarifies how tissue rheology is related to stochastic cell rearrangements and provides a simple biophysical model to describe biological tissues. Further, it highlights the importance of nonlinearities when discussing tissue mechanics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlie Duclut
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 8, 01187 Dresden, Germany
| | - Joris Paijmans
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 8, 01187 Dresden, Germany
| | - Mandar M Inamdar
- Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
| | - Carl D Modes
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Dresden 01307, Germany; Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Cluster of Excellence, Physics of Life, TU Dresden, Dresden 01307, Germany
| | - Frank Jülicher
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Str. 8, 01187 Dresden, Germany; Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Cluster of Excellence, Physics of Life, TU Dresden, Dresden 01307, Germany.
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15
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Balasubramaniam L, Doostmohammadi A, Saw TB, Narayana GHNS, Mueller R, Dang T, Thomas M, Gupta S, Sonam S, Yap AS, Toyama Y, Mège RM, Yeomans JM, Ladoux B. Investigating the nature of active forces in tissues reveals how contractile cells can form extensile monolayers. Nat Mater 2021; 20:1156-1166. [PMID: 33603188 PMCID: PMC7611436 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-021-00919-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Actomyosin machinery endows cells with contractility at a single-cell level. However, within a monolayer, cells can be contractile or extensile based on the direction of pushing or pulling forces exerted by their neighbours or on the substrate. It has been shown that a monolayer of fibroblasts behaves as a contractile system while epithelial or neural progentior monolayers behave as an extensile system. Through a combination of cell culture experiments and in silico modelling, we reveal the mechanism behind this switch in extensile to contractile as the weakening of intercellular contacts. This switch promotes the build-up of tension at the cell-substrate interface through an increase in actin stress fibres and traction forces. This is accompanied by mechanotransductive changes in vinculin and YAP activation. We further show that contractile and extensile differences in cell activity sort cells in mixtures, uncovering a generic mechanism for pattern formation during cell competition, and morphogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Amin Doostmohammadi
- Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Thuan Beng Saw
- Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- National University of Singapore, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | - Romain Mueller
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tien Dang
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod (IJM), Paris, France
| | - Minnah Thomas
- Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Shafali Gupta
- Division of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Surabhi Sonam
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod (IJM), Paris, France
- D Y Patil International University, Pune, India
| | - Alpha S Yap
- Division of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Yusuke Toyama
- Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - René-Marc Mège
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod (IJM), Paris, France.
| | - Julia M Yeomans
- The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Benoît Ladoux
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod (IJM), Paris, France.
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