Phase transitions from a static to a moving phase are observed in a variety of physical systems and are thought to play a key role in cellular assemblies such as healthy and cancerous tissue. Caterina La Porta and Stefano Zapperi discuss how a suitable identification of the control and order parameters can shed light on the nature of phase transitions in cell migration.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich and the Internationales Begegnungszentrum München, where this work was completed, for hospitality. S.Z. also acknowledges support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Humboldt Research Award and thanks Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg for hospitality.
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La Porta, C.A.M., Zapperi, S. Phase transitions in cell migration. Nat Rev Phys 2, 516–517 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-020-0213-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-020-0213-5
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