R. VINCENT – 28 Novembre

The regular distribution of neuronal cells, self-healing epithelial monolayers or 3D tumor formation are examples of active-organization of cells in tissues. While cell-substrate and cell-cell adhesions have a widely acknowledged implication in these macroscopic organizations, the role of the cell-specific contact repulsion called contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) is less clear. In this work, we include these fundamental cellular functions in large scale 2D simulations of cell-like particles. We built a phase diagram which describes within the same unifying framework several of the known multicellular tissues. We provide theoretical scaling laws for transitions such as epithelial-mesenchymal transitions or the dewetting of a 2D epithelium into a 3D agglomerate, which signpost the biophysical pathways available to control these transitions. At last, I will present preliminary results of lens-free microscopy, a method that offers a unique mean to test the organization of large cell colonies.