Rectification of self-propelled cells in confluent tissues

Abstract Collective cell transport in dense tissues governs many biological processes, such as embryonic development, cancer metastasis and wound healing. How to control the directed transport of cells in dense tissues is still an interesting and open question. We numerically investigated the directed transport of a confluent tissue containing self-propelled cells in an asymmetric periodic potential by using the self-propelled Voronoi model. We demonstrate that cells in the confluent tissue can be rectified and the movement direction of cells is determined by the asymmetry of the potential. The cell shape index determines the state of the system and plays a central role in the rectification. There exists an optimal shape index at which the average velocity takes its maximal value. Interestingly, there exist two optimal self-propulsion speeds at which the average velocity reaches its maximum, which is different from the single-cell case (only one optimal speed). In addition, the average velocity is a peaked function of the cell number for small shape index and monotonously decreases with the increase of the cell number for large shape index. Our findings are relevant to the experimental pursuit of the control of motile confluent tissues on periodic substrates.