On the origin of universal cell shape variability in confluent epithelial monolayers.

ABSTRACT: Cell shape is fundamental in biology. The average cell shape can influence crucial biological functions, such as cell fate and division orientation. But cell-to-cell shape variability is often regarded as noise. In contrast, recent works reveal that shape variability in diverse epithelial monolayers follows a nearly universal distribution. However, the origin and implications of this universality remain unclear. Here, assuming contractility and adhesion are crucial for cell shape, characterized via aspect ratio (r), we develop a mean-field analytical theory for shape variability. We find that all the system-specific details combine into a single parameter α that governs the probability distribution function (PDF) of r; this leads to a universal relation between the standard d

SUBMITTER: Sadhukhan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9833828 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature