2020/12/02 by David Oriola, Oriola, David, Miquel Marín-Riera +15
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #3D Printing in Biomedical Research #Cellular Mechanics and Interactions #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Micro and Nano Robotics #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Tissues and Organs (q-bio.TO)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2012.01455
openalex publication_date 2020/12/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Multicellular aggregates are known to exhibit liquid-like properties. The fusion process of two cell aggregates is commonly studied as the coalescence of two viscous drops. However, tissues are complex materials and can exhibit viscoelastic behaviour. It is known that elastic effects can prevent the complete fusion of two drops, a phenomenon known as arrested coalescence. Here we report the presence of this phenomenon in stem cell aggregates and provide a theoretical framework which agrees with the experiments. In addition, agent-based simulations show that cell protrusion activity controls a solid-to-fluid phase transition, revealing that arrested coalescence can be found in the vicinity of an unjamming transition. By analysing the dynamics of the fusion process and combining it with nanoindentation measurements, we obtain the effective viscosity, shear modulus and surface tension of the aggregates. More generally, our work provides a simple, fast and inexpensive method to characterize the mechanical properties of viscoelastic materials.