Instabilities of monolayered epithelia: shape and structure of villi and crypts

Abstract

We study theoretically the shapes of a dividing epithelial monolayer of cells lying on top of an elastic stroma. The negative tension created by cell division provokes a buckling instability at a finite wave vector leading to the formation of periodic arrays of villi and crypts. The instability is similar to the buckling of a metallic plate under compression. We use the results to rationalize the various structures of the intestinal lining observed \emph{in vivo}. Taking into account the coupling between cell division and local curvature, we obtain different patterns of villi and crypts, which could explain the different morphologies of the small intestine and the colon.

4 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Morphogenesis of growing soft tissues

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Nonequilibrium Physics in Biology
• Mechanical Instabilities of Biological Tubes
• Quantifying material properties of cell monolayers by analyzing integer topological defects
• Active nematic flows on curved surfaces
• Perspectives on the mathematics of biological patterning and morphogenesis
• Wrinkling instability in unsupported epithelial sheets
• Morphologies of compressed active epithelial monolayers
• Buckling without bending morphogenesis: Nonlinearities, spatial confinement, and branching hierarchies
• Statistical physics of active matter, cell division and cell aggregation
• Euler buckling on curved surfaces
• (Un)buckling mechanics of epithelial monolayers under compression
• Buckling by disordered growth