Two-lane track geometry facilitates coordination of collective cell migration.

Abstract

Collective cell migration is an essential biological process in the formation and maintenance of tissues, yet its regulation is still not well understood. We formulate a 2D particle model for the collective cell migration in a confluent monolayer of epithelial cells within constrained annular geometries. Key elements of the model are directional persistence modelled by a mutual reinforcement between cell polarity and velocity, as well as a process to determine neighbourhoods of cells through adjacency in the associated Voronoi tessellation. We test this model using recently published experimental results concerning the onset of large-scale global migratory behaviour in annular geometries. Our simulations predict that tracks which are narrow enough to prevent the presence of neighbouring cells lateral to the direction of motion lead to less efficient organisation of globally coordinated migration.