CNCS Seminar
Thursday, September 3, 2015, 2:50pm, Physics 119
M. Cristina Marchetti (Physics Department, Syracuse University)
Mechanics and collective migration of epithelial cell layers

Abstract:

The coordinated migration of groups of cells and the sorting of different cell types underlie many developmental processes, including embryogenesis, morphogenesis, wound healing and cancer metastasis. Recent experiments have shown that mechanical forces can be as important as biochemical signaling in controlling the cooperative dynamics of cells and their organization into tissues. In this talk I will describe recent work by my group using both continuum phenomenological models and simulations to describe the emergent behavior of epithelial cell layers. Continuum models that incorporate the interplay of cell-cell and cell-environment adhesion, modulated by acto-myosin contractility, can account for the propagating stress waves observed in expanding monolayers. Simulations of models inspired by active matter predict transitions between solid-like and liquid-like states of confluent monolayers tuned by cell motility and cell shape.

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