Extending the vertex model for tissue dynamics to include effects of activity

Host: Andela Saric

Due to their role as barriers, epithelial tissues must be able to respond and adjust to various internal and external cues. As a result, epithelial cells exhibit rich active collective behaviours. Understanding these behaviours has been in the focus of active research in the physics of active matter. Over the past two decades, the vertex model has played a central role in modelling the mechanical behaviours of confluent epithelial tissues. In this talk, we address several possible scenarios of how activity can be introduced into the vertex model and how it affects its behaviour. We compare some of the findings with in-vivo imaging of the primitive streak formation in chick embryos.