Colliding cells: when active segments behave as active particles
Abstract
Quantifying the outcomes of cells collisions is a crucial step in building the foundations of a kinetic theory of living matter. Here, we develop a mechanical theory of such collisions by first representing individual cells as extended objects with internal activity and then reducing this description to a model of size-less active particles characterized by their position and polarity. We show that, in the presence of an applied force, a cell can either be dragged along or self-propel against the force, depending on the polarity of the cell. The co-existence of these regimes offers a self-consistent mechanical explanation for cell re-polarization upon contact. We rationalize the experimentally observed collision scenarios within the extended and particle models and link the various outcomes with measurable biological parameters.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1806.09309,
title = {Colliding cells: when active segments behave as active particles},
author = {Pierre Recho and Thibaut Putelat and Lev Truskinovsky},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.09309},
year = {2019}
}