Spontaneous Hole Formation in Cell Monolayers Emerges from Collective Cell Motion

[2508.06461] Spontaneous Hole Formation in Cell Monolayers Emerges from Collective Cell Motion Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Condensed Matter > Soft Condensed Matter arXiv:2508.06461 (cond-mat) [Submitted on 8 Aug 2025] Title: Spontaneous Hole Formation in Cell Monolayers Emerges from Collective Cell Motion Authors: Diogo E. P. Pinto , Jan Rozman , Julia M. Yeomans View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Although cell monolayers typically remain confluent, they can spontaneously develop persistent holes as a result of collective cellular motion. Recent studies on MDCK monolayers cultured on soft substrates have revealed that cells can align to create regions of local nematic order, and topological defects that generate localised mechanical stresses which can spontaneously trigger hole formation. To investigate this process, we develop a continuum multi-phase field model that incorporates internal dissipation and active dipolar forces that drive cell shape anisotropy. Our simulations show that reducing substrate friction enhances cell-cell velocity correlations. In this low-friction regime, topological defects give rise to spiral flow patterns that concentrate stress and can trigger hole formation. We further demonstrate that the number and stability of the holes, whether they close or persist, depends on both substrate friction and cellular activity. These findings underscore the critical role of collective cell dynamics in maintaining tissue integrity. Subjects: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) ; Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2508.06461 [cond-mat.soft] (or arXiv:2508.06461v1 [cond-mat.soft] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.06461 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74977-y Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Diogo Estevao Pereira Pinto [ view email ] [v1] Fri, 8 Aug 2025 17:07:29 UTC (1,688 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: cond-mat.soft < prev | next > new | recent | 2025-08 Change to browse by: cond-mat physics physics.bio-ph References & Citations SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) IArxiv recommender toggle IArxiv Recommender ( What is IArxiv? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab)

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