Vertex models: from cell mechanics to tissue morphogenesis

2017/03/27 by Silvanus Alt, Poulami Ganguly, Poulami Somanya Ganguly +1 · 19 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · Mathematics · #3D Printing in Biomedical Research #Cellular Mechanics and Interactions #Mathematical Biology Tumor Growth

paper · pdf · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0520

openalex publication_date 2017/03/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Tissue morphogenesis requires the collective, coordinated motion and deformation of a large number of cells. Vertex model simulations for tissue mechanics have been developed to bridge the scales between force generation at the cellular level and tissue deformation and flows. We review here various formulations of vertex models that have been proposed for describing tissues in two and three dimensions. We discuss a generic formulation using a virtual work differential, and we review applications of vertex models to biological morphogenetic processes. We also highlight recent efforts to obtain continuum theories of tissue mechanics, which are effective, coarse-grained descriptions of vertex models.This article is part of the themed issue 'Systems morphodynamics: understanding the development of tissue hardware'.

Citations

• Direct laser manipulation reveals the mechanics of cell contacts in vivo
• Cell surface mechanics and the control of cell shape, tissue patterns and morphogenesis
• Apico-basal forces exerted by apoptotic cells drive epithelium folding
• Characterizing the mechanics of cultured cell monolayers
• Bayesian inference of force dynamics during morphogenesis
• Interface Contractility between Differently Fated Cells Drives Cell Elimination and Cyst Formation

Cited by

• Nonlinear viscoelastoplastic rheology of a viscous vertex model
• Bidirectional translocation of actomyosin drives epithelial invagination in ascidian siphon tube morphogenesis
• Mechanically-driven growth and competition in a Voronoi model of tissues
• Sculpting with stem cells: how models of embryo development take shape
• Interplay of geometry and mechanics in epithelial wound healing
• Cell Competition Driven by Secreted Ligands: Modeling Liver Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer
• The 2020 motile active matter roadmap
• Logic of optimal collective migration in heterogeneous tissues
• Theory of multiscale epithelial mechanics under stretch: from active gels to vertex models
• Inferring cell junction tension and pressure from cell geometry
• Fracture in living tissues
• Amoeboid cells undergo durotaxis with soft end polarized NMIIA
• Hexanematic crossover in epithelial monolayers depends on cell adhesion and cell density
• Active superelasticity in three-dimensional epithelia of controlled shape
• Kalman-filter Force Inference: an estimation framework for cellular forces from temporal evolution of epithelial morphogenesis
• Anisotropic Cellular Forces Drive Hexagonal‐to‐Tetragonal Tiling Transitions in the <scp> <i>Drosophila</i> </scp> Eye
• Tissue curvature and apicobasal mechanical tension imbalance instruct cancer morphogenesis
• Parameter degeneracy in the vertex model for tissues
• A multicellular actin star network underpins epithelial organization and connectivity

Related

• Active Vertex Model for Cell-Resolution Description of Epithelial Tissue\n Mechanics
• Nonlinear viscoelastoplastic rheology of a viscous vertex model
• Finite Elasticity of the Vertex Model and its Role in Rigidity of Curved Cellular Tissues
• Parameter degeneracy in the vertex model for tissues
• Differences in boundary behavior in the 3D vertex and Voronoi models