SKM 2023 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 4: Active Matter I (joint session BP/CPP/DY)

CPP 4.3: Talk

Monday, March 27, 2023, 10:15–10:30, TOE 317

Self-organized chemotaxis of coupled cell populations — •Mehmet Can Ucar and Edouard Hannezo — Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria

Many processes in development and disease such as tissue morphogenesis, cancer invasion and immune response rely on collective directional movement of cells. In a wide array of systems this collective motility is driven locally by self-generated chemokine or stiffness gradients, as opposed to pre-patterned, global guidance cues. While recent studies have explored migration mechanisms of a single species of cells, the role of self-generated gradients navigating multiple cell types remains largely untested. Here we address this issue by introducing a theoretical framework for self-organized guidance of chemotactically coupled cell populations. Combining analytical theory and simulations with experiments on immune cell populations, we discover a diverse spectrum of collective migration patterns controlled by single-cell properties. We find that differential chemotactic sensitivity leads to efficient colocalization of distinct cell types, and show that this coupling also depends on the geometry and initial configuration of the dynamical system. We finally outline conditions for robust, sustained multicellular interactions relevant for physiological settings such as during immune response.