Modeling Tissue Detachment and Rupture Using an Extended Vertex Model with T2-inverse Transitions
Abstract
The vertex model is widely used to describe the mechanics of epithelial tissues, but its conventional formulation assumes that all cells remain tightly packed and always share edges with their neighbors, making it difficult to represent local detachment or gap formation. Here, we propose a minimal extension of the vertex model that enables cell detachment by introducing a new topological transformation, T2-inverse, which acts as the inverse of the classical T2 transition. When the imbalance of forces acting on a vertex, quantified by a tension metric T, exceeds a threshold, the T2-inverse splits the vertex into multiple vertices and creates a closed polygon that is incorporated as a pseudo-cell. This operation allows the model to represent the emergence and propagation of local detachment events. Using this framework, we simulate the stretching of a cell sheet and show that force-induced local detachments can accumulate to produce macroscopic tissue rupture. These results demonstrate that the proposed model extends the capability of the vertex model to describe tissue-level breakdown processes, including detachment and tearing, and provides a foundation for studying a broader class of epithelial mechanical phenomena.
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BibTeX
@misc{nishimoto2026modeling,
title = {{Modeling Tissue Detachment and Rupture Using an Extended Vertex Model with T2-inverse Transitions}},
author = {Shota Nishimoto and Yuichi Togashi},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.03691},
eprint = {2609.03691},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03691},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Modeling Tissue Detachment and Rupture Using an Extended Vertex Model with T2-inverse Transitions
AU - Shota Nishimoto
AU - Yuichi Togashi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/03
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.03691
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03691
AB - The vertex model is widely used to describe the mechanics of epithelial tissues, but its conventional formulation assumes that all cells remain tightly packed and always share edges with their neighbors, making it difficult to represent local detachment or gap formation. Here, we propose a minimal extension of the vertex model that enables cell detachment by introducing a new topological transformation, T2-inverse, which acts as the inverse of the classical T2 transition. When the imbalance of forces acting on a vertex, quantified by a tension metric T, exceeds a threshold, the T2-inverse splits the vertex into multiple vertices and creates a closed polygon that is incorporated as a pseudo-cell. This operation allows the model to represent the emergence and propagation of local detachment events. Using this framework, we simulate the stretching of a cell sheet and show that force-induced local detachments can accumulate to produce macroscopic tissue rupture. These results demonstrate that the proposed model extends the capability of the vertex model to describe tissue-level breakdown processes, including detachment and tearing, and provides a foundation for studying a broader class of epithelial mechanical phenomena.
ER -