Quantifying cell shape and density fluctuations in epithelial tissue in vivo

Abstract

Controlling changes in cell shape are crucial for many biological processes, such as tissue development and wound healing. Tissues typically are heterogeneous with a variety of cell shapes and sizes. Of particular interest are local deviations from an average cell shape and size. These fluctuations may extend and transmit across tissues, potentially offering valuable insights into tissue characteristics such as variations in effective "stiffness" or rigidity. In this study, we present a theoretical framework that captures the dynamics of epithelial cell shapes within tissue, incorporating both their average behaviour and fluctuation patterns. We model cells as interacting soft ellipsoids of varying size and aspect ratio. Coarse-graining our model, we obtain a set of continuum stochastic differential equations from which we derive spatial-temporal correlation functions. These correlation functions fit with our experimental data from the developmental process of the \textit{Drosophila} pupal wing. From the correlation functions, critical parameters representing active cell shape changes and effective tissue "stiffness" can be determined.