We derive a continuum mechanical model to capture the morphological changes occurring at the pretumoral stage of epithelial tissues. The proposed model aims to investigate the competition between the bulk elasticity of the epithelium and the surface tensions of the apical and basal sides. According to this model, when the apico-basal tension imbalance reaches a critical value, a subcritical bifurcation is triggered and the epithelium attains its physiological folded shape. Based on data available in the literature, our model predicts that pretumoral cells are softer than healthy cells.

中文翻译：

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上皮组织弹性和表面张力在癌症形态发生中的竞争

我们推导出一个连续的力学模型来捕捉上皮组织肿瘤前阶段发生的形态变化。所提出的模型旨在研究上皮的体积弹性与顶端和基底侧的表面张力之间的竞争。根据该模型，当顶-基底张力失衡达到临界值时，触发亚临界分叉并且上皮达到其生理折叠形状。根据文献中可用的数据，我们的模型预测肿瘤前细胞比健康细胞更柔软。