Collective cell migration of epithelial cells driven by chiral torque generation

Abstract

Various multicellular tissues show chiral morphology. Experimental studies have suggested that this can originate from the chirality of individual cells. However, no theory has been proposed to connect the cellular chiral torque and multicellular chiral morphogenesis. We propose a model of confluent tissue dynamics with cellular chiral torque. We found that cells migrate unidirectionally under a gradient of cellular chiral torque. While the migration speed varies depending on the tissue's mechanical parameters, it is determined solely by a structural order parameter for the liquid-To-solid transition in confluent tissues.