Dynamic scaling analysis of two-dimensional cell colony fronts in a gel medium: a biological system approaching a quenched Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality

The interfacial two-dimensional spreading dynamics of quasilinear Vero cell colony fronts in methylcellulose (MC)-containing culture medium, under a constant average front displacement velocity regime, was investigated. Under comparable experimental conditions, the average colony front displacement velocity becomes lower than that reported for a standard culture medium. Initially, the presence of MC in the medium hinders both the colony spreading, due to a gradual change in the average size and shape of cells and their distribution in the colony, and the cell motility in the gelled medium. Furthermore, at longer culture times enlarged cells appear at random in the border region of the colony. These cells behave as obstacles (pinning sites) for the displacement of smaller cells towards the colony front. The dynamic scaling analysis of rough fronts yields the set of exponents α=0.63±0.04,β=0.75±0.05, and z=0.84±0.05, which is close to that expected for a quenched Kardar-Parisi-Zhang model.