Mechanically driven interface propagation in biological tissues

Abstract

Many biological tissues consist of more than one cell type. We study the dynamics of an interface between two different cell populations as it occurs during the growth of a tumor in a healthy host tissue. Recent work suggests that the rates of cell division and cell death are under mechanical control, characterized by a homeostatic pressure. The difference in the homeostatic pressures of two cell types drives the propagation of the interface, corresponding to the invasion of one cell type into the other. We derive a front propagation equation that takes into account the coupling between cell number balance and tissue mechanics. We show that in addition to pulled fronts, pushed-front solutions occur as a result of convection driven by mechanics.

Keywords

• tissue dynamics
• growth
• front propagation
• cell competition
• 87.18.Hf
• 87.17.Aa