What happens when a scientific model begins to show behaviour no one expected? In the case of a team of researchers from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa), the University of Oxford and the Institute Jozef Stefan, the surprise led to a discovery now published in Nature Communications. The study identifies a physical mechanism that helps explain how spontaneous ruptures can arise in epithelial tissues without the need for a biochemical signal to trigger them.
A Ciências ULisboa researcher publishes discovery on ruptures in cellular tissues
Lídia Belourico
Article, Physics•8 July, 2026
The study identifies a physical mechanism that helps explain how spontaneous ruptures can arise in epithelial tissues.
The research did not begin with that question. The aim was to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for the collective movement of cells and tissues. To do so, the team developed a new theoretical model.
But the model revealed something unexpected. “As we explored the model, holes began to form spontaneously in the tissue, without any external force or biochemical signal — solely due to the collective movement of the cells,” explains Diogo Pinto, lecturer in the Department of Physics at the Faculty of Sciences. “The most surprising part was realising that we had never introduced any mechanism into the model to create those ruptures. They emerged naturally from the system’s dynamics.”
“As we explored the model, holes began to form spontaneously in the tissue, without any external force or biochemical signal.”
Instead of ignoring the result, the researchers decided to understand it: “What we discovered was that the cells can organise themselves into specific patterns of collective movement that concentrate mechanical stresses to the point of causing the spontaneous rupture of the tissue. This shows that the forces generated by the cells themselves can, on their own, compromise the mechanical integrity of the tissue, without the need to assume a specific biochemical signal as the trigger.”
For Diogo Pinto, this path illustrates how science advances: “Ultimately, the project ended up taking a very different direction from the one we had imagined. And that is part of frontier science: when we explore new territory, it is impossible to predict exactly where we will end up. More than following a rigid plan, what matters is recognising when nature shows us something unexpected and having the flexibility to change course. It is often from this ability to adapt that the most interesting discoveries emerge.”
“What we discovered was that the cells can organise themselves into specific patterns of collective movement that concentrate mechanical stresses to the point of causing the spontaneous rupture of the tissue.”
Although this is fundamental research, the results may contribute to a better understanding of processes such as embryonic development, wound healing or the progression of certain tumours, in which the mechanical properties of tissues play an important role. In addition, the model makes quantitative predictions that can be tested experimentally.
The project began when Diogo Pinto was a Marie Skłodowska‑Curie fellow at the University of Oxford and accompanied his transition to Ciências ULisboa, where he is now a lecturer. Publication in Nature Communications was an important recognition for the team.
Diogo Pinto began this project when he was a Marie Skłodowska‑Curie fellow at the University of Oxford and carried it with him during his transition to the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, where he is currently a lecturer.
“It was immensely satisfying. Publication in Nature Communications represents recognition of the quality of the work carried out by the team,” the researcher says. “It was also especially rewarding to see the study evaluated by the Cell & Developmental Biology section. As our team consisted solely of physicists, it is a source of pride to know that work developed from theoretical physics is recognised as relevant by a community more closely linked to biology. It shows how the tools of physics can help address fundamental questions in biology,” he concludes.