Optimal mechanical interactions direct multicellular network formation on elastic substrates

Cells self-organize into functional, ordered structures during tissue morphogenesis, a process that is evocative of colloidal self-assembly into engineered soft materials. Understanding how intercellular mechanical interactions may drive the formation of ordered and functional multicellular structures is important in developmental biology and tissue engineering. Here, by combining an agent-based model for contractile cells on elastic substrates with endothelial cell culture experiments, we show that substrate deformation–mediated mechanical interactions between cells can cluster and align them into branched networks. Motivated by the structure and function of vasculogenic networks, we predict how measures of network connectivity like percolation probability and fractal dimension as well as local morphological features including junctions, branches, and rings depend on cell contractility and density and on substrate elastic properties including stiffness and compressibility. We predict a..., , , # Optimal mechanical interactions direct multicellular network formation on elastic substrates

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kd51c5bcv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kd51c5bcv)

This data set contains the data supporting the claims related to the title article. They are those, specifically, used to construct the figures seen throughout the main text.

## Description of the data and file structure

The data will be parsed according to the figure in the main text to which they correspond.

Figure 2 - Final configurations of the snapshots shown in figure 2. Columns from left to right indicate the x-position, y-position, and dipole angle for the nine stated parameter values as separate labeled sheets.
Figure 3 - Percolation values in A - Packing Fraction (\phi) space for \nu = 0.1, \nu = 0.5, and sticky disks.

Figure 4_b - Binary pixel intensity map for stiffness values 200Pa, 4.5kPa, and 10kPa.
Figure 4_c - Experimental percolation values for sub-boxed images.

Figure 5_Percolation_Exp ...