Abstract

Epithelia are communities of epithelial cells with close intercellular communications and of highly ordered coordination in their motility. Tissues can adjust their internal contractile stresses and organization in response to different stimuli, leading to distinct dynamics. Mechanical properties of epithelial tissues are important for our understanding in many vital biological processes, including homeostasis, morphogenesis, and metastasis and are tightly regulated by cell-cell interactions. I will present examples highlighting the importance of collective behaviours to understand tissue regulation. In the first part, I will focus on collective cell migration and the emergence of cell polarity. In the second part, i will talk about cell extrusion form epithelial tissues and how mechanics can regulate the fate of extruding cells.