Análisis cuantitativo y simulación de un modelo de Organización de cristal líquido en tejido hepático humano.

Abstract

In this study, the methodology developed for the quantification of nematic cell polarity in three-dimensional tissues was applied to the case of human liver tissue under two relevant physiological conditions: healthy tissue, and tissue with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver (NAFLD) pathology. The study shows that human liver tissue behaves like a biaxial liquid crystal with localized defects. For the case of human samples with NAFLD, a decrease in repulsion between the apical and basal surfaces was observed compared to the case of healthy tissue. To better understand the mechanisms underlying the liquid crystalline order in human liver tissue, several coordination models of biaxial nematic polarity were analyzed using Monte Carlo simulations. The simulations showed that in the coordination of the hepatocytes polarity with an external field (probably generated by the surrounding extracellular matrix), the local cell-cell interactions and the existence of point defects are necessary to generate configurations like those observed in the tissue.