细胞活动的长度尺度决定上皮重塑的特征
Length scale of cellular activity determines signatures of epithelial remodeling
浏览论文内容
中文总结 AI 辅助
该研究采用主动顶点模型，对比四种不同尺度的上皮活动模式，发现空间速度关联可区分各机制，为识别上皮活动物理起源提供实验可行手段。
中文摘要 AI 辅助
细胞活动驱动上皮组织流化——这是在体内和体外的组织发育、重塑及修复过程中观察到的普遍现象。然而，不同生物系统中主动力的物理起源和空间组织差异极大，理论模型中常以单一通用机制表示。本文采用主动顶点模型，系统比较了从亚细胞到组织尺度的四种上皮活动模式：无极性运动、极性运动、波动收缩力及力化学调控。尽管这四种机制均驱动组织从类固体矩形形态向类流体圆形形态的相同全局转变，但它们通过不同路径实现该状态——在连接重排速率与拓扑、细胞消除及集体运动方面存在差异，并在组织结构、细胞动力学及力学松弛中留下可区分的特征。在这些观测指标中，空间速度关联直接捕捉活动的空间组织：其关联长度和函数形式共同区分四种机制。这些特征在不同活动强度下的鲁棒性表明，空间速度关联提供了一种仅通过活细胞成像即可从实验上识别上皮活动物理起源的可行方法。
英文摘要
Cellular activity drives epithelial fluidization --- a widespread phenomenon observed during tissue development, remodeling, and repair both in vivo and in vitro. Yet the physical origins and spatial organization of active forces vary widely across biological systems and are often represented by a single generic mechanism in theoretical models. Here, using an active vertex model, we systematically compare four modes of epithelial activity spanning subcellular to tissue scales: apolar motility, polar motility, fluctuating contractility, and mechanochemical regulation. Although all four mechanisms drive the same global transition from a solid-like rectangular tissue to a fluid-like circular morphology, they reach this state through distinct pathways --- differing in the rates and topology of junctional rearrangements, cell elimination, and collective motion and leave distinguishable signatures in tissue architecture, cell dynamics, and mechanical relaxation. Among these observables, spatial velocity correlations directly capture the spatial organization of activity: their correlation length and functional form together resolve all four mechanisms. The robustness of these signatures across activity strengths suggests that spatial velocity correlations offer an experimentally accessible means of identifying the physical origin of epithelial activity from live-cell imaging alone.
