Cornealia: automated collective order analysis reveals density-dependent reorganization of donor corneal endothelium
- 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
Abstract
The corneal endothelium is a non-regenerative monolayer whose health determines transplant success, yet donor tissue is assessed only by single-cell metrics that ignore how the monolayer is organized collectively. A physics-based spring constant K, derived from the radial distribution function of cell positions, captures this collective order but has remained limited to semi-manual studies without physical interpretation. Here we present Cornealia, an automated pipeline for collective-order and intercellular-force analysis. In cultured endothelial cells, collective order declines with passaging and is higher under growth-factor conditions that preserve N-cadherin junctions, differences invisible to cell density and hexagonality. Across 2,177 donor cornea images from two cohorts, collective order, distinct from classical metrics, responds most to mechanical perturbation: corneas with endothelial cell density above 2,400 cells/mm^2 mostly gain order, whereas less dense ones lose it, on one curve shared by both cohorts. Reconstructed intercellular forces track these changes. This switch lies within the minimum donor densities used by eye banks, suggesting a mechanical basis for these clinical thresholds and establishing collective order as an automatable measure of endothelial quality.
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BibTeX
@misc{rostami2026cornealia,
title = {{Cornealia: automated collective order analysis reveals density-dependent reorganization of donor corneal endothelium}},
author = {M. Rostami and S. Asim and M. Steele and D. S. Kyauk and L. Moul and S. Haarman and A. Richard and G. Peh and D. Moore and M. Rizwan and J. S. Mehta and S. J. Han},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.21.760745},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760745v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Cornealia: automated collective order analysis reveals density-dependent reorganization of donor corneal endothelium
AU - M. Rostami
AU - S. Asim
AU - M. Steele
AU - D. S. Kyauk
AU - L. Moul
AU - S. Haarman
AU - A. Richard
AU - G. Peh
AU - D. Moore
AU - M. Rizwan
AU - J. S. Mehta
AU - S. J. Han
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.21.760745
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760745v1
AB - The corneal endothelium is a non-regenerative monolayer whose health determines transplant success, yet donor tissue is assessed only by single-cell metrics that ignore how the monolayer is organized collectively. A physics-based spring constant K, derived from the radial distribution function of cell positions, captures this collective order but has remained limited to semi-manual studies without physical interpretation. Here we present Cornealia, an automated pipeline for collective-order and intercellular-force analysis. In cultured endothelial cells, collective order declines with passaging and is higher under growth-factor conditions that preserve N-cadherin junctions, differences invisible to cell density and hexagonality. Across 2,177 donor cornea images from two cohorts, collective order, distinct from classical metrics, responds most to mechanical perturbation: corneas with endothelial cell density above 2,400 cells/mm^2 mostly gain order, whereas less dense ones lose it, on one curve shared by both cohorts. Reconstructed intercellular forces track these changes. This switch lies within the minimum donor densities used by eye banks, suggesting a mechanical basis for these clinical thresholds and establishing collective order as an automatable measure of endothelial quality.
ER -