Abstract
Epithelial cells cultured in a monolayer are very motile in isolation but reach a near-jammed state when mitotic division increases their number above a critical threshold. We have recently shown that a monolayer can be reawakened by over-expression of a single protein, RAB5A, a master regulator of endocytosis. This reawakening of motility was explained in term of a flocking transition that promotes the emergence of a large-scale collective migratory pattern. Here we focus on the impact of this reawakening on the structural properties of the monolayer. We find that the unjammed monolayer is characterised by a fluidisation at the single cell level and by enhanced non-equilibrium large-scale number fluctuations at a larger length scale. Also with the help of numerical simulations, we trace back the origin of these fluctuations to the self-propelled active nature of the constituents and to the existence of a local alignment mechanism, leading to the spontaneous breaking of the orientational symmetry.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 384003 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-11 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics |
Volume | 50 |
Early online date | 13 Jul 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Aug 2017 |
Keywords
- active matter
- jamming transition
- collective cell migration
- non-equilibrium fluctuations