Effect of complex tissue environments on spindle oscillations and their nonlinearity

Determine how complex tissue environments, specifically those present in Xenopus epithelial tissue, influence both the existence of oscillations in mitotic spindle motion and the nonlinear structure of such oscillations in models that include cortical force generators and microtubule-based restoring forces.

Background

The paper contrasts well-characterized spindle oscillations in C. elegans with more variable and noisy oscillations observed in Xenopus epithelial tissue. While prior models capture oscillations driven by cortical force generators and microtubule restoring forces, the authors note differences in observed nonlinearity and the presence or absence of oscillations within complex tissue contexts.

This motivates a focused inquiry into how tissue-level complexity (geometry, adhesion, mechanical environment) modulates the dynamical features of spindle movement—whether oscillations arise at all and, if they do, whether they exhibit nonlinear or relaxation-like characteristics.