Shear effects in active models of normal and cancer cells

[2608.15010] Shear effects in active models of normal and cancer cells Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Condensed Matter > Soft Condensed Matter arXiv:2608.15010 (cond-mat) [Submitted on 15 Aug 2026] Title: Shear effects in active models of normal and cancer cells Authors: Souvik Sadhukhan , Rajsekhar Das , Lin Zhao , Wolfgang Losert , D. Thirumalai View a PDF of the paper titled Shear effects in active models of normal and cancer cells, by Souvik Sadhukhan and 4 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Mechanical properties of biological tissues, driven by passive and active forces, play a vital role in several processes ranging from development to cancer metastasis. However, the dynamical responses of cells in tissues, subject to mechanical deformations such as shear and the associated rheological properties, are not well characterized. Here, we use three-dimensional agent-based models for normal and cancer tissues to investigate their responses to simple shear as a function of cell stiffness and stochastic active forces. In the normal epithelium, with uniform strength of active force, the yield stress as a function of shear rate follows the Herschel-Bulkley form over a range of cell volume fraction. Strikingly, the shear rate dependence and the elasticity-dependent changes in the yield stress fall on master curves upon suitable scaling. To model cancer-like behavior, a certain fraction ($N_p$) of cells was chosen to have enhanced activity and decreased stiffness. As $N_p$ increases, the extent of collective cell movement decreases, transitioning from affine (collective) to non-affine (individualistic) movement, a finding that is in accord with imaging experiments. Simulations of a model of a stiff solid tumor, with radius $R_s$ embedded in normal tissue, show that as $R_s$ increases, the yield stress increases. Interestingly, the cells migrate collectively as $R_s$ increases. A Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and a mean field theory quantitatively account for the simulation as well as experimental results on cancerous, non-cancerous, and a mixture of these two types. The combined theoretical and experimental study establishes that heterogeneity in stiffness and activity determines non-affine movements in normal and cancer tissues. Subjects: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) ; Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2608.15010 [cond-mat.soft] (or arXiv:2608.15010v1 [cond-mat.soft] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.15010 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Souvik Sadhukhan [ view email ] [v1] Sat, 15 Aug 2026 03:42:07 UTC (9,247 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Shear effects in active models of normal and cancer cells, by Souvik Sadhukhan and 4 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: cond-mat.soft < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: cond-mat physics physics.bio-ph References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... 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