Fig. 3: Cell-ECM adhesion promotes basal cell extrusion.

a Top view of a typical simulation run at different time points. On the left, it is shown the epithelium phenotype at t = 0 h; in the middle, t = 2.5 h; on the right, t = 10 h. Epithelial cells are labelled in red, the E-cadherin mutant cell is represented in yellow, and matrix fibres in magenta. b Basal view of the same simulation run at t = 0 h, 2.5 h and 10 h. c Representation of the same simulation run highlighting the mutant cell morphology during the extrusion process (t = 0 h, 2.5 h and 10 h, respectively). d Graph displaying average extrusion distance of the E-cadherin mutant cell along 16 h, when adhesion to ECM is 0, 1, 1.5, and 2 times that of the wild-type neighbours. e Graph displaying average extrusion distance of the E-cadherin mutant cell along 16 h, when extruding cell membrane tension is 1.0, 0.5, 0.33, and 0.25 times that of the cell membrane tension in wild-type neighbours. For each condition, 8 simulations were performed and standard deviations in the mean extrusion distance are represented by shaded bands.