Speaker
Description
Cells are embedded in spatial tissues. This context shapes cell-fate decision, global tissue structures, and, ultimately, the development of multi-cellular systems. One of the pivotal questions is the extent to which coherent tissue structures arise from the interplay between intra- and intercellular signalling and regulatory projects. Here we highlight how spatial context can lead to a phenomenon that is known as “frustration” in spatial statistical physics: what happens at one level can conflict with what happens at another cell. Here we consider frustration as a conflict between the cell intrinsic regulatory processes and the signals that they receive from neighbouring cells. By taking a disciplined approach, guided by recent work in Ising spin glass models, we map out how and when frustration can shape complex tissue processes and lead to rich stable spatial patterns. We conclude by mapping out the biological relevance of these ideas as conceptual and computational frameworks for tissue patterning processes that start explicitly from a cellular rather than continuum points of views.
