Seminar by Francesca Serra
Title: Cells as liquid crystals and the role of topological defects
Speaker: Prof. Francesca Serra, Department of Biological and Soft MAtter Physics, SDU.
Abstract:
Many types of living cells have a spindle-like shape and exhibit long-range orientational order. In this, they are similar to liquid crystals. As liquid crystals, they also exhibit topological defects whenever the order is disrupted. There is increasing evidence that such defects play a role in the organization of the cell layers. We approach this problem from the liquid crystal perspective. We generate topological defects in monolayers of fibroblasts 3T6 and epithelial cells EpH-4 by patterning the cells’ substrate with ridges or grooves. This allows us to study defects that do not typically occur in monolayers, such as those with topological charge +1 and -1. We analyze the alignment of cells on the patterns, their dynamics, the cell density distribution and the cell properties near the disordered core of the defects. Through this research, we aim to gain insight into the role of topological defects in the organization of cell monolayers using the framework of liquid crystal physics.