Spatial clustering of adhesion-deficient cells controls epithelial rigidity transitions

Epithelial tissues maintain mechanical integrity through a balance between cell-cell adhesion and cortical contractility. Disruption of E-cadherin-mediated adhesion is a hallmark of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer progression; yet how local adhesion defects propagate to tissue-scale mechanical changes remains poorly understood. Here, we use a two-dimensional vertex model (varying mutant cell fraction, spatial arrangement, and initial tissue disorder) to investigate how adhesion-deficient cells regulate epithelial mechanics.

We show that increasing the fraction of mutant cells drives the tissue towards geometric signatures associated with reduced mechanical rigidity, characterised by elevated cellular shape index and increased prevalence of non-hexagonal cells. Crucially, spatial organisation acts as an independent structural variable that modulates tissue mechanics beyond mutant fraction alone. For identical mutant fractions, randomly distributed mutants undergo rapid, spatially isolated T2-mediated removal events producing only transient shape-index perturbations. Clustered mutants, by contrast, undergo sequential boundary removal, delaying elimination and sustaining elevated shape index in the surrounding tissue. This persistent elevation induces topological disorder within the local neighbourhood that outlasts mutant clearance itself. Our results establish spatial organisation as a key determinant of epithelial rigidity transitions, with implications for understanding early-stage cancer progression.