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Proliferating Nematic that Collectively Senses an Anisotropic Substrate

Toshi Parmar1, Fridtjof Brauns2, Yimin Luo3, and M. Cristina Marchetti1,4

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PRX Life 4, 013010 – Published 26 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5nx2-fqgt

Abstract

Motivated by recent experiments on growing fibroblasts, we examine the development of nematic order in a colony of elongated cells proliferating on a nematic elastomer substrate. After sparse seeding, the cells divide and grow into locally ordered but randomly oriented domains that then interact with each other and the substrate. Global alignment with the substrate is only achieved above a critical density, suggesting a collective mechanism for the sensing of substrate anisotropy. The system jams at high density, where both reorientation and proliferation stop. Using a continuum model of a proliferating nematic liquid crystal, we examine the competition between growth-driven alignment and substrate-driven alignment in controlling the density and structure of the final jammed state. We propose that anisotropic traction forces and the tendency of cells to align perpendicular to the direction of density gradients act in concert to provide a mechanism for collective cell alignment.

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PRX Life 4, 013010– Published 26 January, 2026
  • Received 17 July 2025
  • Accepted 18 December 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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