https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2015-50264-4
Regular Article
Entangled active matter: From cells to ants
1 Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA
2 Group of Complex Systems and Statistical Physics, Physics Faculty, University of Havana, 10400 La Habana, Cuba
3 UPMC Univ. Paris 06, UMR 168, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France
4 CNRS, UMR 168, Institut Curie, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France
a e-mail: hu@me.gatech.edu
Received: 30 September 2015
Revised: 11 May 2016
Published online: 15 July 2016
Both cells and ants belong to the broad field of active matter, a novel class of non-equilibrium materials composed of many interacting units that individually consume energy and collectively generate motion or mechanical stresses. However cells and ants differ from fish and birds in that they can support static loads. This is because cells and ants can be entangled, so that individual units are bound by transient links. Entanglement gives cells and ants a set of remarkable properties usually not found together, such as the ability to flow like a fluid, spring back like an elastic solid, and self-heal. In this review, we present the biology, mechanics and dynamics of both entangled cells and ants. We apply concepts from soft matter physics and wetting to characterize these systems as well as to point out their differences, which arise from their differences in size. We hope that our viewpoints will spur further investigations into cells and ants as active materials, and inspire the fabrication of synthetic active matter.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag, 2016
