Jamming in Embryogenesis and Cancer Progression

Abstract

The ability of tissues and cells to move and rearrange is central to a broad range of diverse biological processes such as tissue remodeling and rearrangement in embryogenesis, cell migration in wound healing, or cancer progression. These processes are linked to a solid-like to fluid-like transition, also known as unjamming transition, a not rigorously defined framework that describes switching between a stable, resting state and an active, moving state. Various mechanisms, that is, proliferation and motility, are critical drivers for the (un)jamming transition on the cellular scale. However, beyond the scope of these fundamental mechanisms of cells, a unifying understanding remains to be established. During embryogenesis, the proliferation rate of cells is high, and the number density is continuously increasing, which indicates number-density-driven jamming. In contrast, cells have to unjam in tissues that are already densely packed during tumor progression, pointing toward a shape-driven unjamming transition. Here, we review recent investigations of jamming transitions during embryogenesis and cancer progression and pursue the question of how they might be interlinked. We discuss the role of density and shape during the jamming transition and the different biological factors driving it.