Discontinuous buckling from cytoplasmic mechanics in vertex models of epithelia
Abstract
The cell cortex and cell adhesion contribute to the mechanics of epithelial cells and hence tissues. Vertex models of epithelia represent the cell cortex and cell adhesion, but these models mostly ignore the other subcellular structures that compose the cytoplasm surrounded by the cortex. Here, we reveal the mechanical consequences of these structures in a minimal vertex model of an epithelial monolayer, in which the single-cell energy includes a cytoplasmic contribution that represents, e.g., the cost of confinement of cytosolic polymers. Strikingly, our simulations show that the buckling transition of the monolayer under compression becomes discontinuous in an intermediate range of values of the associated cytoplasmic modulus. By asymptotic solution of this buckling problem in the continuum limit of the model, we explain this reentrant behaviour in terms of the tricritical points of a sixth-order Landau theory. Our results thus underline how cell-scale mechanics beyond the cortex and cell adhesion can change emergent, tissue-scale behaviour even qualitatively.
Related
- Deflection monitoring of discontinuous built-up beams using FBG measurements with mechanics-guided regularization
- Hox gene activity directs physical forces to differentially shape chick small and large intestinal epithelia
- Elastocapillary self-folding: buckling, wrinkling, and collapse of floating filaments
- Strain Waves Generate Compression and Trigger Buckling in Active Polymers
- Compression-controlled dynamic buckling in thin soft sheets
BibTeX
@misc{ray2026discontinuous,
title = {{Discontinuous buckling from cytoplasmic mechanics in vertex models of epithelia}},
author = {Chandraniva Guha Ray and Pierre A. Haas},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.03239},
eprint = {2610.03239},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03239},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Discontinuous buckling from cytoplasmic mechanics in vertex models of epithelia
AU - Chandraniva Guha Ray
AU - Pierre A. Haas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.03239
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03239
AB - The cell cortex and cell adhesion contribute to the mechanics of epithelial cells and hence tissues. Vertex models of epithelia represent the cell cortex and cell adhesion, but these models mostly ignore the other subcellular structures that compose the cytoplasm surrounded by the cortex. Here, we reveal the mechanical consequences of these structures in a minimal vertex model of an epithelial monolayer, in which the single-cell energy includes a cytoplasmic contribution that represents, e.g., the cost of confinement of cytosolic polymers. Strikingly, our simulations show that the buckling transition of the monolayer under compression becomes discontinuous in an intermediate range of values of the associated cytoplasmic modulus. By asymptotic solution of this buckling problem in the continuum limit of the model, we explain this reentrant behaviour in terms of the tricritical points of a sixth-order Landau theory. Our results thus underline how cell-scale mechanics beyond the cortex and cell adhesion can change emergent, tissue-scale behaviour even qualitatively.
ER -