Related papers: Cellular function given parametric variation: exci…
We introduce a generic, purely mechanical model for environment sensitive motion of mammalian cells that is applicable to chemotaxis, haptotaxis, and durotaxis as modes of motility. It is able to theoretically explain all relevant…
Active nematic models explain the topological defects and flow patterns observed in epithelial tissues, but the nature of active stress-whether it is extensile or contractile, a key parameter of the theory-is not well established…
We study the influence of thermal fluctuations on the buckling behavior of thin elastic capsules with spherical rest shape. Thermal fluctuations affect the buckling instability by two mechanisms. On the one hand, thermal fluctuations can…
In this work, we study the dynamical robustness in a system consisting of both active and inactive oscillators. We analytically show that the dynamical robustness of such system is determined by the cross link density between active and…
Homeostasis, broadly speaking, refers to the maintenance of a stable internal state when faced with external stimuli. Failure to manage these regulatory processes can lead to different diseases or death. Most physiologists and cell…
In biological tissues, it is now well-understood that mechanical cues are a powerful mechanism for pattern regulation. While much work has focused on interactions between cells and external substrates, recent experiments suggest that cell…
We study the surface fluctuations of a tissue with a dynamics dictated by cell-rearrangement, cell-division, and cell-death processes. Surface fluctuations are calculated in the homeostatic state, where cell division and cell death…
Previous work introduced a lower-dimensional numerical model for the geometric nonlinear simulation and optimization of compliant pressure actuated cellular structures. This model takes into account hinge eccentricities as well as…
We study the effect of varying wiring in excitable random networks in which connection weights change with activity to mold local resistance or facilitation due to fatigue. Dynamic attractors, corresponding to patterns of activity, are then…
Dynamic heterogeneity has often been modeled by assuming that a single-particle observable, fluctuating at a molecular scale, is influenced by its coupling to environmental variables fluctuating on a second, perhaps slower, time scale.…
The ability of cells to sense and respond to the mechanical properties of their environments is fundamental to a range of cellular behaviours, with substrate stiffness increasingly being found to be a key signalling factor. Although active…
We report on localized patches of cellular hexagons observed on the surface of a magnetic fluid in a vertical magnetic field. These patches are spontaneously generated by jumping into the neighborhood of the unstable branch of the domain…
Cells sense the geometry and stiffness of their adhesive environment by active contractility. For strong adhesion to flat substrates, two-dimensional contractile network models can be used to understand how force is distributed throughout…
Biological cells are the prototypical example of active matter. Cells sense and respond to mechanical, chemical and electrical environmental stimuli with a range of behaviors, including dynamic changes in morphology and mechanical…
We disclose the generality of the intrinsic mechanisms underlying multistability in reciprocally inhibitory 3-cell circuits composed of simplified, low-dimensional models of oscillatory neurons, as opposed to those of a detailed Hodgkin-…
Living cells are soft bodies of a characteristic form, but endowed with a capacity for a steady turnover of their structures. Both of these material properties, i.e. recovery of the shape after an external stress has been imposed and…
During growth, tissue expands and deforms. Given its elastic properties, stresses emerge in an expanding and deforming tissue. Cell rearrangements can dissipate these stresses and numerous experiments confirm the viscoelastic properties of…
Cosmic inflation provides a compelling framework for explaining several observed features of our Universe, but its viability depends on an efficient reheating phase that converts the inflaton's energy into Standard Model particles. This…
Neuronal cells present periodic trains of localized voltage spikes involving a large amount of different ionic channels. A relevant question is whether this is a cooperative effect or it could also be an intrinsic property of individual…
The stability of a flexible fluid membrane containing a distribution of mobile, active proteins (e.g. proton pumps) is shown to depend on the structure and functional asymmetry of the proteins. A stable active membrane is in a…