An antiparallel cell circulation driven by self-alignment induces phase separation

Cell sorting is a form of phase separation in populations of motile cells, such as epithelia. Cell polarity often plays a central role in cell sorting by influencing motility, adhesion, and mechanical stress. However, whether and how self-alignment of individual cells—without direct polarity coordination—can lead to stable domain formation remains unclear. Here, we introduce “circulation-induced phase separation” (CirPS)—a distinct mechanism of phase separation driven by hierarchical cell ordering. Each polar motile cell, which self-aligns its polarity with its velocity, migrates by generating a tension gradient along its polarity at cell–cell boundaries, rather than by traction on the substrate. Two-dimensional (2D) vertex model simulations of a mixture of polar motile and nonmotile cells reveal phase separation of stable motile cell domains, each consisting of concentric cell circulations, with adjacent circulations aligned in an antiparallel direction. Domain formation proceeds in a self-enforcing manner: circulations generate a normal stress difference that effectively attracts the motile cells themselves, driving domain growth. Cell speed increases with the degree of ordering, and the domain size grows over time following a 1/3 power-law scaling in the low-noise regime—features distinct from conventional sorting, such as motility-induced phase separation and the Vicsek model. A similar antiparallel circulation pattern was observed in 2D aggregates of Dictyostelium discoideum, supporting the biological relevance of CirPS.