Speaker
Description
Collective cell rearrangements and migration are important mechanical processes in epithelial tissue development and regeneration. In this talk, I will present recent theoretical insights into how dynamical patterns emerge at the tissue scale from localized cell rearrangements and topological defects. Using a minimal polarized cell model, we explore how planar cell polarity (PCP) induces active stresses and spontaneous localised fluidisation. Specifically, a vortex in the PCP ordering generates inward cell migration leading to out-of-surface tissue deformations. Using a multi-phase field model, we show that T1 transitions, as cell neighbour exchanges driven by cell self-propulsion, can induce directional cell migration relative to other cells. T1 transitions are transient sources of vortical flow, controlling the rate of cell mixing through relative dispersion, and promote directional migration.
