New information from cell aggregate compression tests and its implications for theories of cell sorting

Issue title: Selected papers of the Euromech Colloquium No. 420, Mechanobiology of Cells and Tissues

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Brodland, G. Wayne

Affiliations: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1 Tel.: +1 519 888 4567, ext 6211; Fax: +1 519 888 6197; E‐mail: brodland@uwaterloo.ca; http://www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/brodland

Abstract: In order to verify theories about the mechanics of cell sorting, tissue spreading and checkerboard pattern formation, it is necessary to measure certain cell properties such as surface tension and adhesiveness. The purpose of this work is to clarify the relationship between these two important properties and to use computer simulations and analytical calculations to extract additional information from parallel plate compression tests. This paper shows that compression tests can be used to determine not only the surface tension between the aggregate and the surrounding medium, but also the effective viscosity of the cell cytoplasm and the interfacial tension that acts between the cells that make up the aggregate. The findings reported here also support a novel, differential interfacial tension‐based theory for cell sorting, tissue spreading and checkerboard pattern formation, and pose further challenges to current differential adhesion‐based models.

Journal: Biorheology, vol. 40, no. 1-3, pp. 273-277, 2003