---
APC_amount: 7068 EUR
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
_id: '20424'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Homeostasis relies on a precise balance of fate choices between renewal and
differentiation. Although progress has been done to characterize the dynamics
of single-cell fate choices, their underlying mechanistic basis often remains
unclear. Concentrating on skin epidermis as a paradigm for multilayered tissues
with complex fate choices, we develop a 3D vertex-based model with proliferation
in the basal layer, showing that mechanical competition for space naturally gives
rise to homeostasis and neutral drift dynamics that are seen experimentally. We
then explore the effect of introducing mechanical heterogeneities between cellular
subpopulations. We uncover that relatively small tension heterogeneities, reflected
by distinct morphological changes in single-cell shapes, can be sufficient to
heavily tilt cellular dynamics towards exponential growth. We thus derive a master
relationship between cell shape and long-term clonal dynamics, which we validated
during basal cell carcinoma initiation in mouse epidermis. Altogether, we propose
a theoretical framework to link mechanical forces, quantitative cellular morphologies
and cellular fate outcomes in complex tissues.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: Bio
acknowledgement: We thank Alois Schlögl, Paula Sanematsu, Susana Moreno Flores, Bernat
Corominas-Murtra, Stefania Tavano, Gayathri Singharaju, and Hannezo group members
for helpful discussions, the Bioimaging facility at ISTA, as well as Matthias Merkel
and Lisa Manning for sharing the 3D Voronoi code. We also thank the Champalimaud
animal facility, Anna Pezzarossa and the Champalimaud ABBE platform for the help
with microscopy and image processing. This work was supported by EMBO (ALTF 522-2021),
a Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia grant to A.S.D. (PTDC/MED-ONC/5553/2020),
as well as the European Research Council (grant 851288 to EH). A.S.D., S.C., and
R.M.S. are supported by QuantOCancer Project Horizon European Union’s Horizon 2020
program (grant agreement No 810653).
article_number: '8440'
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Preeti
full_name: Sahu, Preeti
id: 55BA52EE-A185-11EA-88FD-18AD3DDC885E
last_name: Sahu
- first_name: Sara
full_name: Monteiro-Ferreira, Sara
last_name: Monteiro-Ferreira
- first_name: Sara
full_name: Canato, Sara
last_name: Canato
- first_name: Raquel Maia
full_name: Soares, Raquel Maia
last_name: Soares
- first_name: Adriana
full_name: Sánchez-Danés, Adriana
last_name: Sánchez-Danés
- first_name: Edouard B
full_name: Hannezo, Edouard B
id: 3A9DB764-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Hannezo
orcid: 0000-0001-6005-1561
citation:
ama: Sahu P, Monteiro-Ferreira S, Canato S, Soares RM, Sánchez-Danés A, Hannezo
EB. Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis. Nature
Communications. 2025;16. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-62882-9
apa: Sahu, P., Monteiro-Ferreira, S., Canato, S., Soares, R. M., Sánchez-Danés,
A., & Hannezo, E. B. (2025). Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in
the skin epidermis. Nature Communications. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62882-9
chicago: Sahu, Preeti, Sara Monteiro-Ferreira, Sara Canato, Raquel Maia Soares,
Adriana Sánchez-Danés, and Edouard B Hannezo. “Mechanical Control of Cell Fate
Decisions in the Skin Epidermis.” Nature Communications. Springer Nature,
2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62882-9.
ieee: P. Sahu, S. Monteiro-Ferreira, S. Canato, R. M. Soares, A. Sánchez-Danés,
and E. B. Hannezo, “Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis,”
Nature Communications, vol. 16. Springer Nature, 2025.
ista: Sahu P, Monteiro-Ferreira S, Canato S, Soares RM, Sánchez-Danés A, Hannezo
EB. 2025. Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis. Nature
Communications. 16, 8440.
mla: Sahu, Preeti, et al. “Mechanical Control of Cell Fate Decisions in the Skin
Epidermis.” Nature Communications, vol. 16, 8440, Springer Nature, 2025,
doi:10.1038/s41467-025-62882-9.
short: P. Sahu, S. Monteiro-Ferreira, S. Canato, R.M. Soares, A. Sánchez-Danés,
E.B. Hannezo, Nature Communications 16 (2025).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2025-10-05T22:01:34Z
date_published: 2025-09-26T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-05-20T08:52:01Z
day: '26'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: EdHa
doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62882-9
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '001582555200011'
pmid:
- '41006218'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: d1656576883b23902545328e2d640234
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2025-10-13T12:37:04Z
date_updated: 2025-10-13T12:37:04Z
file_id: '20464'
file_name: 2025_NatureComm_Sahu.pdf
file_size: 2816813
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2025-10-13T12:37:04Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 16'
isi: 1
language:
- iso: eng
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 628f3fb1-2b32-11ec-9570-83ce778803f7
grant_number: ALTF 522-2021
name: Biomechanics of stem cell fate determination
- _id: 05943252-7A3F-11EA-A408-12923DDC885E
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '851288'
name: Design Principles of Branching Morphogenesis
publication: Nature Communications
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 2041-1723
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by_nc_nd.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
short: CC BY-NC-ND (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 16
year: '2025'
...