Model of cell-cell adhesions as cytockeleton-to-cytoskeleton linkers

Adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin are known to contribute to the overall mechanics of multicellular systems by directly coupling cells through their cytoskeletons. Even though adhesion molecules interact directly with the cytoskeletons of the adherent cells, many models still describe them by an effective affinity between cell membranes rather than as a direct interaction between cytoskeletons. To understand how tissues behave mechanically and how forces are propagated between cells, we present a model of cell-cell coupling that takes into explicit account the dynamics of adhesion molecules and their interaction with the cytoskeleton. In our models, we describe cellular adhesions as a one-dimensional field that couples to fields describing the cytoskeleton of two adjacent cells. We capture forces exerted between adhesions and the cytoskeleton, turnover of both adhesions and cytoskeleton, cytoskeletal activity, and the dynamics of adhesion molecules binding and unbinding to actin. Importantly, we show that a population of adhesions connecting two cytoskeletal fields can compel the cytoskeletons to coordinate their dynamics.