The role of topology and mechanics in uniaxially growing cell networks. (29th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Erlich, Alexander; Jones, Gareth W.; Tisseur, Françoise; Moulton, Derek E.; Goriely, Alain
• Is Part Of: Proceedings. Volume 476:Number 2233(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-01-29
• Subjects: cell mechanics -- network structure -- self-organization -- biological tissues -- growth modelling; Physical sciences -- Periodicals; Engineering -- Periodicals; Mathematics -- Periodicals; 500
• DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2019.0523
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1364-5021

Abstract

Abstract : In biological systems, the growth of cells, tissues and organs is influenced by mechanical cues. Locally, cell growth leads to a mechanically heterogeneous environment as cells pull and push their neighbours in a cell network. Despite this local heterogeneity, at the tissue level, the cell network is remarkably robust, as it is not easily perturbed by changes in the mechanical environment or the network connectivity. Through a network model, we relate global tissue structure (i.e. the cell network topology) and local growth mechanisms (growth laws) to the overall tissue response. Within this framework, we investigate the two main mechanical growth laws that have been proposed: stress-driven or strain-driven growth. We show that in order to create a robust and stable tissue environment, networks with predominantly series connections are naturally driven by stress-driven growth, whereas networks with predominantly parallel connections are associated with strain-driven growth.