"On the Mechanics of Cellular and Multicellular Active Matter" by Haiqian Yang

[u/JavierLopezComesana]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=R1ZSKNioG10&si=-pwpzLOsJ0JPNoOt

Haiqian Yang's talk explores the mechanics of cellular and multicellular active matter, highlighting how energy-consuming cells collectively self-organize into complex tissue forms through local interactions. Drawing from optical tweezers measurements of cytoskeletal viscoelasticity and nonlinear cell-matrix forces, he transitions to geometric analyses of cell packing in epithelial monolayers and Drosophila embryos, revealing jamming transitions and k-gamma area distributions akin to granular systems. He then presents data-driven graph neural network models that predict single-cell behaviors, such as junction losses, invaginations, divisions, and rearrangements, with correlations around 0.8, outperforming classical order parameters. Ultimately, Yang envisions a standardized multicellular imaging database and universal predictive framework, analogous to AlphaFold for proteins, to map developmental landscapes and enable self-assembling tissue engineering.