Séminaire

Vendredi 20 Novembre 2026 à 11h00.

Interactive Active Matter: From Myotube Growth to Cell Extrusion

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Active matter encompasses a wide range of systems composed of individual units that extract energy from their surroundings and convert it into mechanical work. Such units, including bacteria and eukaryotic cells, inhabit extremely diverse environments, giving rise to a complex network of inter- and intra-population interactions. Mechanical forces exerted and experienced by cells can act as messengers that regulate individual behaviour. However, how such forces shape collective organisation and, in turn, decide the fate of individual cells remains an open question.

In this talk, I will use two complementary modelling approaches to show how mechanical interactions with the surroundings and with other cells shape cell fate. First, using continuum active nematic theory, I will discuss muscle tissue formation. Myoblasts behave as an evolving contractile active nematic, in which remodelling of the extracellular matrix stabilises topological defects and amplifies the compressive stresses at the heads of comet-shaped +1/2 defects, biasing where myoblasts fuse and myotubes grow. Second, using three-dimensional multi-phase field models of epithelial monolayers, I will address cell extrusion. Altering force transmission across E-cadherin junctions changes whether extruded cells die or survive, and shifts extrusion from the apical to the basal side, a route reminiscent of cancer cell invasion. Together, these studies highlight how mechanical cues, from cell–matrix coupling to cell–cell adhesion, govern cell fate and tissue organisation.

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