Buckling of unconstrained circular cross-sections

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Tissue folding is a frequently observed phenomenon, from the cerebral cortex gyrification, to the gut villi formation and even the crocodile head scales development. 
Although the causes of tissue folding are not yet well understood, some hypotheses suggest that it may be related to the physical properties of the tissue and its growth under mechanical constraints. In this context, we use our 2D vertex model to simulate cross-sections of spherical cell monolayers and investigate how cell mechanics combined with cell proliferation affect the morphology of growing tissues. This first study focuses on the case where no external mechanical constraints are exerted on the tissue. For more information, please refer to our Natural Computing article.


Examples of simulations

Low intercellular adhesion

High intercellular adhesion