Solid-to-solid transition in dense assemblies of elongated cells
Abstract
Cell shapes in confluent tissues range from nearly isotropic epithelial morphologies to highly elongated endothelial ones. In standard vertex models, tissue rigidity is controlled by a target shape index; increasing this index drives cell elongation and ultimate tissue fluidization. Here, we consider the case where cell elongation emerges autonomously by assigning an intrinsic, passive elastic preference for anisotropic shape. This distinction reverses the usual expectation: cell elongation does not fluidize the tissue, but drives a solid-to-solid transition from an ordered isotropic solid to a disordered anisotropic solid, with finite yield stress and shear rigidity on either side of the transition. These results decouple cell shape from tissue rheology and caution against inferring fluid-like mechanics from elongated cell morphologies alone.
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BibTeX
@misc{lin2026solidtosolid,
title = {{Solid-to-solid transition in dense assemblies of elongated cells}},
author = {Shao-Zhen Lin and Jean-François Rupprecht},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
eprint = {2606.26726},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05791526v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Solid-to-solid transition in dense assemblies of elongated cells
AU - Shao-Zhen Lin
AU - Jean-François Rupprecht
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/26
PB - HAL
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05791526v1
AB - Cell shapes in confluent tissues range from nearly isotropic epithelial morphologies to highly elongated endothelial ones. In standard vertex models, tissue rigidity is controlled by a target shape index; increasing this index drives cell elongation and ultimate tissue fluidization. Here, we consider the case where cell elongation emerges autonomously by assigning an intrinsic, passive elastic preference for anisotropic shape. This distinction reverses the usual expectation: cell elongation does not fluidize the tissue, but drives a solid-to-solid transition from an ordered isotropic solid to a disordered anisotropic solid, with finite yield stress and shear rigidity on either side of the transition. These results decouple cell shape from tissue rheology and caution against inferring fluid-like mechanics from elongated cell morphologies alone.
ER -