Professor Yuan Lin of the Department of Mechanical Engineering co-led the research on “Multiscale mechanisms driving tissue rupture by invading cells”. The research findings were published in Developmental Cell on April 08, 2026.

Details of the publication:

Multiscale mechanisms driving tissue rupture by invading cells

Selwin K. Wu, Fuqiang Sun, Celestine Z. Ho, Yuting Lou, Christina Bao-Xian Huang, Mui Hoon Nai, Jingwei Xiao, Murat Shagirov, Jasmine Fei Li Chin, Diana Lim, Suzie Verma, David S.P. Tan, Philippe Marcq, Alpha S. Yap, Chwee Teck Lim, Tetsuya Hiraiwa, Yuan Lin*, Boon Chuan Low

Article in Developmental Cell

https://www.cell.com/developmental-cell/abstract/S1534-5807(26)00039-0

Abstract

Cells migrate and invade tissues during development, immune responses, and cancer. Collective invasion is generally understood to be driven by invading cells unjamming and pushing through barriers such as the extracellular matrix and surrounding tissues. Whether these barriers actively contribute to invasion remains unclear. Using ovarian adenocarcinoma spheroids invading mesothelium derived from benign pleural effusions as an experimental model, combined with modeling, we examine invasion across molecular to multicellular scales. We identify intercellular integrin adhesions linking invasive leader cells to the tissue barrier, triggering apical constrictions within the barrier. This constriction shrinks cell-cell contacts, leading to barrier rupture. Thus, the tissue barrier plays a mechanically active role in invasion. Rather than cells pushing through, we find that coordinated subcellular contractility between the invading leader cell and the barrier drives barrier tensile rupture and invasion, independent of a jamming transition. Together, our findings challenge prevailing paradigms of collective cell invasion.