Decoupling adhesion from jamming in phase transitions drives tissue organization

Phase transitions in cellular collectives are triggered by multiple control parameters. Independently tuning cell density and adhesion, both in silico and in vivo, reveals that adhesion dictates the tissue material state. Adhesion-driven solidification in unjammed pluripotent tissues is shown to drive epithelial organization — uncovering that phase transitions direct developmental programmes.

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Stanley, H. E. Introduction to Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena. (Oxford Univ. Press, 1971). This book covers the basics of phase transitions.

Rustarazo-Calvo, L., Soans, K. G. & Petridou, N. I. Tissue phase transitions in development: more than just mechanics. Development 153, dev205219 (2026). A review article summarizing tissue phase transitions in development.

Petridou, N. I., Corominas-Murtra, B., Heisenberg, C.-P. & Hannezo, E. Rigidity percolation uncovers a structural basis for embryonic tissue phase transitions. Cell 184, 1914–1928 (2021). A paper on the theoretical framework of rigidity percolation for the mapping of tissue phase transitions in vivo.

Bi, D., Lopez, J. H., Schwarz, J. M. & Manning, M. L. A density-independent rigidity transition in biological tissues. Nat. Phys. 11, 1074–1079 (2015). This paper introduces a theoretical framework for mapping tissue fluidity from cell shape.

Kim, S., Pochitaloff, M., Stooke-Vaughan, G. A. & Campàs, O. Embryonic tissues as active foams. Nat. Phys. 17, 859–866 (2021). This paper treats living tissues within the theoretical framework of active foams.

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This is a summary of: Rustarazo-Calvo, L. et al. Adhesion-driven rigidity transition decoupled from density-driven jamming triggers epithelial organization in embryonic tissues. Nat. Phys. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03276-6 (2026).

Decoupling adhesion from jamming in phase transitions drives tissue organization. Nat. Phys. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03282-8

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