Collective Motility, Mechanical Waves, and Durotaxis in Cell Clusters

Epithelial cell clusters often move collectively on a substrate. Mechanical signals play a major role in organizing this behavior. There are a number of experimental observations in these systems which await a comprehensive explanation. These include: the internal strains are tensile even for clusters that expand by proliferation; the tractions on the substrate are often confined to the edges of the cluster; there can exist density waves within the cluster; clusters can exhibit collective durotaxis when individual cells show no effect; and for cells in an annulus there is a transition between expanding clusters with proliferation and the case where cells fill the annulus and rotate around it. We formulate a mechanical model to examine these effects. We use a molecular clutch picture which allows "stalling" -- inhibition of cell contraction by external forces. Stalled cells are passive from a physical point of view and the un-stalled cells are active. By attaching cells to the substrate and to each other, and taking into account contact inhibition of locomotion, we get a simple picture for many of these findings as well as predictions that could be tested. SI text/figures included, SI movies at https://rice.box.com/s/xiy3mwsfj3203lfu7pk0udfklexcgsew