Learning Epithelial Elasticity via Local Tension Remodeling.

ABSTRACT: Biological materials, like epithelial tissues, exhibit remarkable adaptability to mechanical stresses, dynamically remodeling their structure in response to external and internal forces. A key challenge is understanding how these tissues store a memory of past mechanical stimuli. Here, we investigate this memory using an active Vertex Model of epithelial sheets incorporating a local, mechanosensitive tension-remodeling rule where junctional tension updates depend on strain, acting as a slow, history-dependent variable. We demonstrate three hallmark mechanical consequences of this memory mechanism. First, a localized, short contractile cue permanently reprograms the global shear modulus, with the direction of change (stiffening or softening) controlled by the tension remodeling rate. Second

SUBMITTER: Arzash S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12724603 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature