Internal seminar - Vincent Hakim (LPENS)

Abstract:

Cells do not only deform passively but also actively remodel under mechanical stress. How this type of mechanical feedback affects tissue behavior remains to be better understood. I will describe recent work with Francis Corson (LPENS) and Mingfeng Qiu (U. of Canterbury) which investigates this question in the context of epithelial morphogenesis. The usual vertex model, which describes an epithelial monolayer as a network of edges representing cell-cell boundaries, is generalized to account for myosin motor recruitment by edge tension. We find that this feedback can focus force transmission and give rise to chains of strongly contracting edges. This offers a potential explanation for the formation and refinement of actomyosin cables, which are ubiquitously observed in epithelial morphogenesis. From a physics point of view, the results highlight a new self-organized mechanical state in active tissues.