Cell Volume Fluctuations in MDCK Monolayers.

Cells moving collectively in tissues constitute a form of active matter, in which collective motion depends strongly on driven fluctuations at the single-cell scale. Fluctuations in cell area and number density are often seen in monolayers, yet their role in collective migration is not known. Here we study density fluctuations at the single- and multicell level, finding that single-cell volumes oscillate with a timescale of 4 h and an amplitude of 20%; the timescale and amplitude are found to depend on cytoskeletal activity. At the multicellular scale, density fluctuations violate the central limit theorem, highlighting the role of nonequilibrium driving forces in multicellular density fluctuations.