Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 36: Cell adhesion, mechanics and migration II

BP 36.9: Talk

Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 17:30–17:45, H 1058

Is the wound healing mechanism an accelerating one? — •Damir Vurnek, Sara Kaliman, and Ana-Sunčana Smith — Theoretical Physics I, FAU Erlangen

Morphogenesis and wound healing both require migration of large number of constituent cells. We address these problems by using MDCK II model epithelium grown on collagen I coated glass substrates. Usually, to study such a system, a part of an expanding monolayer is carefully analyzed. Here we take the complementary approach and look at the global development of an, initially droplet seeded, system of cells which is allowed to expand freely over time. In contrast to most studies majority of our experiments performed have very long time windows of at least 10 days. On the basis of experimental findings the known model of exponential growth of small (< 0.1 mm²) cell clusters is expanded with an additional parameter which accounts for the slowing down of area growth. Thus, with the use of a simple differential equation, and easily interpreted parameters - initial colony area (A₀), colony doubling time (τ) and effective slowing down of growth (b) - one can successfully predict the area expansion of clusters in the range of four orders of magnitude. Further data analysis shows a stunning picture of a perpetually accelerating monolayer edge, in stark opposition to the concept of constant speed limits supposedly reached by macroscopic (> 10 mm²) monolayers. These findings raise the questions of accumulating stress levels such epithelial tissues endure before breaking or buckling, or even just slowing down.