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Showing 1–21 of 21 results
Advanced filters: Author: Ricard Alert Clear advanced filters

  • Active fluids, such as bacterial suspensions, exhibit chaotic flows at low Reynolds number - a phenomenon known as active turbulence. Here, the authors show a discontinuous transition from laminar to chaotic flows in unconfined active nematics.

    • Malcolm Hillebrand
    • Ricard Alert
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 16, P: 1-10

  • Cells typically migrate toward stiffer substrates via durotaxis, relying on focal adhesions. Here, the authors show that confined cells can migrate up friction gradients without focal adhesions, revealing a mode of directed migration called frictiotaxis.

    • Adam Shellard
    • Kai Weißenbruch
    • Roberto Mayor
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 16, P: 1-15

  • Metastable phases are usually formed through nucleation, upon overcoming an energy barrier. Here, Alert et al. theoretically predict and experimentally verify the unexpected formation of a metastable phase by spinodal decomposition through direct phase separation from an unstable phase.

    • Ricard Alert
    • Pietro Tierno
    • Jaume Casademunt
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 7, P: 1-7

  • Tissue boundaries in our body separate organs and enable healing, but boundary mechanics are not well known. Here, the authors define mechanical rules for colliding cell monolayers and use these rules to make complex, predictable tessellations.

    • Matthew A. Heinrich
    • Ricard Alert
    • Daniel J. Cohen
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 13, P: 1-10

  • The decision to form a fruiting body have been studied extensively, however, the mechanical events that trigger the creation of multiple cell layers is poorly understood. Here the authors find M. xanthus cells adjust their reversal frequency to control mechanical stresses that triggers layer formation in the colonies.

    • Endao Han
    • Chenyi Fei
    • Joshua W. Shaevitz
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 16, P: 1-10

  • Self-propelled particles are shown to orient themselves towards areas of high density, phase separating into fluid-like clusters. This behaviour is unique to active systems, forming a distinct class of motility-induced phase separation.

    • Jie Zhang
    • Ricard Alert
    • Steve Granick
    Research
    Nature Physics
    Volume: 17, P: 961-967

  • Topological defects in active nematic systems such as epithelial tissues and neural progenitor cells can be associated with biological functions. Here, the authors show that defects can play a role in the layer formation of the soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus.

    • Katherine Copenhagen
    • Ricard Alert
    • Joshua W. Shaevitz
    Research
    Nature Physics
    Volume: 17, P: 211-215

  • An analogy with wetting has proven apt for describing how groups of cells spread on a substrate. But cells are active: they polarize, generate forces and adhere to their surroundings. Experiments now find agreement with an active update to the theory.

    • Carlos Pérez-González
    • Ricard Alert
    • Xavier Trepat
    Research
    Nature Physics
    Volume: 15, P: 79-88

  • The existence of multicellular systems relies on coordinated cell motion in three dimensions. Here, cell migration in rotating spherical tissues is shown to exhibit a collective mode with a single-wavelength velocity wave, which arises from the effect of curvature on the flocking behavior of cells on a spherical surface.

    • Tom Brandstätter
    • David B. Brückner
    • Chase P. Broedersz
    ResearchOpen Access
    Nature Communications
    Volume: 14, P: 1-11

  • Determining the properties that emerge from the equations that govern turbulent flow is a fundamental challenge in non-equilibrium physics. A hydrodynamic theory for two-dimensional active nematic fluids at vanishing Reynolds number is now put forward, revealing a universal scaling behaviour for this class of systems.

    • Ricard Alert
    • Jean-François Joanny
    • Jaume Casademunt
    Research
    Nature Physics
    Volume: 16, P: 682-688

  • Substrate stiffness influences cellular cluster migration through collective durotaxis. Now, the underlying mechanism of this process is explained by considering the wetting dynamics of the clusters.

    • Macià Esteve Pallarès
    • Irina Pi-Jaumà
    • Xavier Trepat
    Research
    Nature Physics
    Volume: 19, P: 279-289

  • Torres-Águila et al. report that embryo development of the appendicularian chordate Oikopleura dioica is affected by biotoxins released by phytoplankton blooms. This work shows that these biotoxins may impact marine food webs and that defensome genes of appendicularians could be used to monitor the genetic stress of natural populations.

    • Nuria P. Torres-Águila
    • Josep Martí-Solans
    • Cristian Cañestro
    ResearchOpen Access
    Communications Biology
    Volume: 1, P: 1-11

  • The comet assay is commonly used to assess DNA damage. This collection of consensus protocols includes adaptations for a wide range of species and sample types, assay formats and detection of different types of DNA lesions.

    • Andrew Collins
    • Peter Møller
    • Amaya Azqueta
    Protocols
    Nature Protocols
    Volume: 18, P: 929-989