Description of Research Area

Collective Behavior of Active Soft Matters: Toward Tissue Dynamics

Research Subject

The internal structure of a cell is, although very complicated, captured by the assemblage of soft materials such as polymers, liquid crystals, and membranes, and is supported particularly by cytoskeleton consisting of filaments and molecular motors. At the individual level, a single cell spontaneously moves and deforms under a nonequilibrium state by consuming energy. How these two hierarchies are associated with macroscopic features of tissue as an assemblage of cells, and with the response to external mechanical stress and collective displacement of cells in the tissue. First, we would like to clarify the relationship between fluctuation in the tissue and collective behavior exhibited by a collection of moving and deforming domains. The second purpose is to construct a theoretical model for a cell as an active soft matter with minimal ingredients and to understand generic features of tissue dynamics.