Fig. 4: Fast cells show suppressed shape variability.

a Cell velocity maps over the cage breaking time, t^⋆, for different τ_p values for ϕ = 0.92. The color bar denotes the displacement magnitude. The red circles represent the top 10% most-mobile cells over t^⋆. b \(\overline{AR}\) for different values of τ_p for the top 10% most-mobile (hollow circles) and least-mobile cells (squares) cells over t^⋆. Fast cells typically have a larger \(\overline{AR}\) than the slow cells. c SD(AR) versus \(\overline{AR}\) for the fast (circles) and slow cells (squares). The fast cells show a reduced shape variability in both experiments (filled symbols) and Vertex Model simulations (half-filled symbols). d PDF of AR for all cells (hollow squares), 10% fast (red circles) and 10% slow cells (solid squares) from Vertex model simulations at T = 0.009. e Inset: Mimicking dynamical heterogeneities. After equilibrating the system, a cluster of n cells (shown in cyan) is allowed to evolve while the rest of the system is frozen (gray). Main figure: SD(AR) versus \(\overline{AR}\) for different n and at different T. The black line is the universal scaling predicted in ref. ³⁷. With increasing n, SD(AR) approaches the universal scaling from below, demonstrating that the subdued shape variability of fast cells is due to their confinement by their slower surrounding. Also, at low T, where the mobility of the system as a whole is smaller, the deviation from the line is also small. At high T, on the other hand, the confinement effect is more pronounced.