Cell division and death inhibit glassy behaviour of confluent tissues

Abstract

We investigate the effects of cell division and apoptosis on collective dynamics in two-dimensional epithelial tissues. Our model includes three key ingredients observed across many epithelia, namely cell–cell adhesion, cell death and a cell division process that depends on the surrounding environment. We show a rich non-equilibrium phase diagram depending on the ratio of cell death to cell division and on the adhesion strength. For large apoptosis rates, cells die out and the tissue disintegrates. As the death rate decreases, however, we show, consecutively, the existence of a gas-like phase, a gel-like phase, and a dense confluent (tissue) phase. Most striking is the observation that the tissue is self-melting through its own internal activity, ruling out the existence of any glassy phase.