Colloquium: Collective Cell Movements: From Material Properties to Tissue Development

Collective Cell Movements: From Material Properties to Tissue Development
Dr. Gonca Erdemci-Tandogan
Western University

Abstract: Collective cell movements play a critical role in guiding embryonic development, wound repair and disease progression, such as cancer metastasis. The coordination of these movements is influenced by mechanical forces. Additionally, biological tissues exhibit characteristics of soft materials, capable of flowing and deforming, a characteristic thought to be essential for proper embryonic development. Tissue material properties can change drastically during embryonic development, reminiscent of rigidity transitions in physics. However, measuring the impact of transitions on cell behaviours or identifying how to control the transitions is challenging experimentally in developing animals. In this talk, I will discuss our research, focusing on developing computational and theoretical models to investigate the interplay between tissue material properties, cellular functions and tissue boundary formation, yielding testable predictions for various developmental processes.

Bio: Dr. Gonca Erdemci-Tandogan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Western University. Her research group studies theoretical and computational soft matter and biological physics, with specific expertise in modelling mechanics of cells and tissues, and viruses. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Riverside, where she studied the physics of self-assembly of virus particles, specifically the role of the genome and membrane during viral assembly. After her Ph.D., she worked as a postdoctoral associate at Syracuse University, investigating the mechanisms underlying tissue and organ formation. Before joining Western University, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, where, in close collaborations with experimentalists, she continued to develop verifiable mathematical models and predictions to study the role of tissue mechanics on various embryonic developmental processes.