Active nematic flows on curved surfaces

Abstract

Cell monolayers are a central model system to tissue biophysics. In vivo, epithelial tissues are curved on the scale of microns, and curvature's role in the onset of spontaneous tissue flows is still not well-understood. Here, we present a hydrodynamic theory for an apical-basal asymmetric active nematic gel on a curved strip. We show that surface curvature qualitatively changes monolayer motion compared to flat space: the resulting flows can be thresholdless, and the transition to motion may change from continuous to discontinuous. Surface curvature, friction and active tractions are all shown to control the flow pattern selected: from simple shear to vortex chains.

5 pages, 3 figures, 20 supplemental pages, 11 supplemental figures, 2 supplemental movies

References in corpus (2)

• Instabilities of monolayered epithelia: shape and structure of villi and crypts
• Hydrodynamic theory for nematic shells: the interplay among curvature, flow and alignment

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Soft Metamaterials: Adaptation and Intelligence
• Morphodynamics of Active Nematic Fluid Surfaces
• Coordinated motion of epithelial layers on curved surfaces
• Passive defect driven morphogenesis in nematic membranes
• A geometric framework for curvature-dependent collective behavior of polar active agents on curved surfaces