We show that when cells communicate by contact-mediated interactions, heterogeneity in cell shapes and sizes leads to qualitatively distinct collective behavior in the tissue. For inter-cellular coupling that implements lateral inhibition, such disorder-driven transitions can substantially alter the asymptotic pattern of differentiated cells by modulating their fate choice through changes in the neighborhood geometry. In addition, when contact-induced signals influence inherent cellular oscillations, disorder leads to the emergence of functionally relevant partially-ordered dynamical states.
@article{arxiv.2201.06478,
title = {Contact-mediated signaling enables disorder-driven transitions in cellular assemblies},
author = {Chandrashekar Kuyyamudi and Shakti N. Menon and Sitabhra Sinha},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2201.06478},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
6 pages, 3 figures + 5 pages Supplementary Information