Fig. 4: Tissue structure impacts the basal cell extrusion.

a Apical view of a typical simulation of an E-cadherin mutant cell in the gland interior, at t = 0 h, 2.5 h and 10 h, during the extrusion process. Epithelial cells are marked in red, the mutant cell in yellow, and matrix fibres in magenta. b External view of the same simulation at t = 0 h, 2.5 h and 10 h. c Mutant cell morphology during the extrusion process for the same simulation (t = 0 hrs, 2.5 h, and 10 h, respectively). d Graph shows the extrusion distance profile of the E-cadherin mutant cell for 16h, when adhesion to ECM is 0, 1, 1.5 and 2 times that of the normal epithelial tissue. For each condition, 8 simulations were performed and standard deviations in the mean extrusion distance are represented by shaded bands. e Direct comparison between extrusion distance in cylindrical tissue and the corresponding flat geometry, as a function of time, when the mutant cell adhesion to ECM is equal to 1.5 times that of the wild-type cells. The individual results from the simulations are indicated (in squares for the flat tissue and in circles for the cylindrical geometry), as well as the standard deviation of the mean extrusion distances.