Junctional fluctuations in three-dimensional epithelial tissue

During embryogenesis, cell rearrangements drive epithelial tissue deformation. Particularlly in three dimensional space, it remains unclear how asymmetric forces between apical and basal surfaces play a role in cell rearrangements. In this study, we investigated cell rearrangements using a graph-vertex-model with asymmetric conditions driven by active forces. We analyzed diffusion processes of cell displacement over long time scales by introducing fluctuations to junctional tension. On diffusion processes, we also inspected the effects of topological changes such as scutoids and delamination. Together, our results suggest a possible scenario for rigidity transitions driven by junctional fluctuations in three dimensional epithelial tissues, which more closely resemble actual biological conditions.