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. 2010 Aug 10;5(8):e12097. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012097

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Jamali et al.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.

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ECM is considered to be rigid and not affected by cells; however, cells still adhere to ECM and are polarized. a) Figure shows the final results for various gap sizes. If the gap width is denoted with and the radius of a free epithelial cell with , then it can be seen that cells cannot line the gap for . For the first cell which meets the gap will enter it, although due to the pressure of the walls it would not be able to continue its growth and division, so it fills the entry and blocks the gap. Other cells pass over the gap and again create a linear monolayer. For cells cannot ignore the gap and penetrate it. They continue their proliferation into the gap; however, when they reach the internal right corner, because of the limitation in space and the forerunning cells being subject to direction changing, the growth is stopped and the cells are entrapped in the gap. For the cells can enter the gap without any problem and line it. b) A few snapshots of the growth process when the gap is equal to . n represents the dimensionless elapsed time. During simulation, cells show differing behaviors at the corners. The growth rate of cells decreases at the internal corner and increases at the external corner. In addition, at external corners, due to the sudden decrease in contact area, cells detach from the ECM more easily in response to the pressure of neighboring cells. This, in turn, leads to loss of polarity and apoptosis.

Inline graphic — ECM is considered to be rigid and not affected by cells; however, cells still adhere to ECM and are polarized. a) Figure shows the final results for various gap sizes. If the gap width is denoted with and the radius of a free epithelial cell with , then it can be seen that cells cannot line the gap for . For the first cell which meets the gap will enter it, although due to the pressure of the walls it would not be able to continue its growth and division, so it fills the entry and blocks the gap. Other cells pass over the gap and again create a linear monolayer. For cells cannot ignore the gap and penetrate it. They continue their proliferation into the gap; however, when they reach the internal right corner, because of the limitation in space and the forerunning cells being subject to direction changing, the growth is stopped and the cells are entrapped in the gap. For the cells can enter the gap without any problem and line it. b) A few snapshots of the growth process when the gap is equal to . n represents the dimensionless elapsed time. During simulation, cells show differing behaviors at the corners. The growth rate of cells decreases at the internal corner and increases at the external corner. In addition, at external corners, due to the sudden decrease in contact area, cells detach from the ECM more easily in response to the pressure of neighboring cells. This, in turn, leads to loss of polarity and apoptosis.