迁移细胞簇作为具有不对称形状和接触角的活性液滴

中文摘要 AI 辅助

在胚胎发育和癌症进展过程中，细胞簇会跟随外部线索集体迁移。此类迁移细胞簇已被建模为在基底上润湿的活性液滴。迄今为止，该活性润湿模型假设细胞簇呈对称的球形帽形状。与此相反，我们通过实验表明，迁移的青蛙神经嵴细胞簇具有不对称的高度分布，其前缘接触角低于后缘。随后，我们通过推导细胞簇形状的方程扩展了活性润湿模型，该形状成为解的一部分而非假设。我们的模型表明，形状不对称可能源于驱动细胞簇迁移的不对称牵引力：它们在整个组织中产生压力梯度，通过杨-拉普拉斯方程，导致细胞簇上表面产生曲率梯度。最后，通过将理论预测拟合到实测高度分布，我们估算了组织粘度。总体而言，我们的结果为迁移细胞簇中不对称形状的出现提供了一种通用机制，这些细胞簇被理解为在润湿性梯度上的活性液滴。

英文摘要

During embryonic development and cancer progression, clusters of cells migrate collectively following external cues. Such migrating cell clusters have been modeled as active droplets wetting a substrate. So far, this active wetting model assumed the cluster to take the symmetric shape of a spherical cap. Here, in contrast, we experimentally show that migrating clusters of frog neural crest cells have asymmetric height profiles, with a lower contact angle at the front than at the rear. We then extend the active wetting model by deriving an equation for the cluster shape, which becomes part of the solution rather than an assumption. Our model shows that shape asymmetry can arise from the asymmetric tractions that drive cluster migration: They generate a pressure gradient across the tissue which, via the Young-Laplace equation, leads to a curvature gradient on the cluster's upper surface. Finally, by fitting the theoretical predictions to the measured height profile, we estimate the tissue viscosity. Overall, our results provide a general mechanism for the emergence of asymmetric shapes in migrating cell clusters, understood as active droplets on a wettability gradient.

发表机构

• Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems（马克斯·普朗克复杂系统物理研究所）
• Center for Systems Biology Dresden（德累斯顿系统生物学中心）
• Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, Technische Universität Dresden（德累斯顿工业大学生命物理卓越集群）
• Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona（巴塞罗那大学凝聚态物理系）
• Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS)（巴塞罗那大学复杂系统研究所）
• Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)（加泰罗尼亚研究高级学院）

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