Contractility-driven cell motility against a viscoelastic resistance

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Singha, Tapas, Sens, Pierre
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866909121726382080
author Singha, Tapas
Sens, Pierre
author_facet Singha, Tapas
Sens, Pierre
contents We study a model of contraction-based cell motility inside a microchannel to investigate the regulation of cell polarization and motion by the mechanical resistance of the environment. A positive feedback between the asymmetry of the acto-myosin cortex density and cell motion gives rise to a spontaneous symmetry breaking beyond a threshold contractility that depends on the resistance of extracellular medium. In highly viscous environments, we predict bistability under moderate contractility, so that symmetry breaking needs to be activated. In a viscoelastic environment, we find periodic oscillations in cortex density and velocity polarization. At the boundary between viscous and viscoelastic environments, the cell may either cross into the viscoelastic medium, bounce back into the viscous medium, or become trapped at the boundary. The different scenarios defined different phase diagram that are confirmed by numerical simulations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_17669
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Contractility-driven cell motility against a viscoelastic resistance
Singha, Tapas
Sens, Pierre
Biological Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Cell Behavior
We study a model of contraction-based cell motility inside a microchannel to investigate the regulation of cell polarization and motion by the mechanical resistance of the environment. A positive feedback between the asymmetry of the acto-myosin cortex density and cell motion gives rise to a spontaneous symmetry breaking beyond a threshold contractility that depends on the resistance of extracellular medium. In highly viscous environments, we predict bistability under moderate contractility, so that symmetry breaking needs to be activated. In a viscoelastic environment, we find periodic oscillations in cortex density and velocity polarization. At the boundary between viscous and viscoelastic environments, the cell may either cross into the viscoelastic medium, bounce back into the viscous medium, or become trapped at the boundary. The different scenarios defined different phase diagram that are confirmed by numerical simulations.
title Contractility-driven cell motility against a viscoelastic resistance
topic Biological Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Cell Behavior
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.17669