{"title":"Splay and bend deformations in cells near corners†","authors":"Aniruddh Murali, Prasoon Awasthi, Kirsten Endresen, Arkadiusz Goszczak and Francesca Serra","doi":"10.1039/D5SM00093A","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p >The study of spindle-like cells as nematic liquid crystals has led to remarkable insights in the understanding of tissue organization and morphogenesis. In the characterization of this anomalous liquid crystal material, we focus on the energetic cost of splay and bend deformations, in order to determine the elastic anisotropy of the material, <em>i.e.</em> the ratio of the elastic constants associated with splay and bend. We explore the behavior of monolayers of cells in proximity to corners, where cells arrange in splay or bend configuration, depending on the amplitude of the wedge angle. The angle at which splay and bend deformations are equally likely is determined by the ratio between splay and bend elastic constants. Our data suggest that for fibroblast cells the common approximation of bend and splay constants being equal is valid.</p>","PeriodicalId":103,"journal":{"name":"Soft Matter","volume":" 28","pages":" 5804-5812"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Soft Matter","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/sm/d5sm00093a","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The study of spindle-like cells as nematic liquid crystals has led to remarkable insights in the understanding of tissue organization and morphogenesis. In the characterization of this anomalous liquid crystal material, we focus on the energetic cost of splay and bend deformations, in order to determine the elastic anisotropy of the material, i.e. the ratio of the elastic constants associated with splay and bend. We explore the behavior of monolayers of cells in proximity to corners, where cells arrange in splay or bend configuration, depending on the amplitude of the wedge angle. The angle at which splay and bend deformations are equally likely is determined by the ratio between splay and bend elastic constants. Our data suggest that for fibroblast cells the common approximation of bend and splay constants being equal is valid.
期刊介绍：
Soft Matter is an international journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry using Engineering-Materials Science: A Synthesis as its research focus. It publishes original research articles, review articles, and synthesis articles related to this field, reporting the latest discoveries in the relevant theoretical, practical, and applied disciplines in a timely manner, and aims to promote the rapid exchange of scientific information in this subject area. The journal is an open access journal. The journal is an open access journal and has not been placed on the alert list in the last three years.
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