Phase transition in the collective migration of tissue cells: Experiment and model
Abstract
We have recorded the swarming-like collective migration of a large number of keratocytes (tissue cells obtained from the scales of goldfish) using long-term videomicroscopy. By increasing the overall density of the migrating cells, we have been able to demonstrate experimentally a kinetic phase transition from a disordered into an ordered state. Near the critical density a complex picture emerges with interacting clusters of cells moving in groups. Motivated by these experiments we have constructed a flocking model that exhibits a continuous transition to the ordered phase, while assuming only short-range interactions and no explicit information about the knowledge of the directions of motion of neighbors. Placing cells in microfabricated arenas we found spectacular whirling behavior which we could also reproduce in simulations.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review E
- Pub Date:
- December 2006
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevE.74.061908
- arXiv:
- arXiv:q-bio/0611045
- Bibcode:
- 2006PhRvE..74f1908S
- Keywords:
-
- 87.17.Aa;
- 87.17.Jj;
- 87.64.Rr;
- Theory and modeling;
- computer simulation;
- Cell locomotion;
- chemotaxis and related directed motion;
- Light microscopy: bright-field dark-field phase contrast DIC;
- Quantitative Biology - Cell Behavior;
- Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics;
- Physics - Biological Physics;
- Quantitative Biology - Quantitative Methods;
- Quantitative Biology - Tissues and Organs
- E-Print:
- Submitted to Physical Review E. Supplementary material available at http://angel.elte.hu/~bszabo/collectivecells/