Intercellular friction and motility drive orientational order in cell monolayers.

ABSTRACT: Spatiotemporal patterns in multicellular systems are important to understanding tissue dynamics, for instance, during embryonic development and disease. Here, we use a multiphase field model to study numerically the behavior of a near-confluent monolayer of deformable cells with intercellular friction. Varying friction and cell motility drives a solid-liquid transition, and near the transition boundary, we find the emergence of local nematic order of cell deformation driven by shear-aligning cellular flows. Intercellular friction contributes to the monolayer's viscosity, which significantly increases the spatial correlation in the flow and, concomitantly, the extent of nematic order. We also show that local hexatic and nematic order are tightly coupled and propose a mechanical-geometric mo

SUBMITTER: Chiang M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11459176 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature