Wetting-mediated extracellular phase separation drives long-range cell adhesion
Anheng Wang, Dixi Yang, Haijiao Zhang, Vesselin N. Paunov, Shuo Tian, Lei Dong, Hajime Tanaka, Jiaxing Yuan, Chunming Wang
The paper identifies a physical mechanism, liquid-like adhesion by phase separation (LAPS), that enables long-range cell adhesion through dynamic wetting layers, independent of classical receptor-ligand binding.
bioRxiv · Jan 26, 2026 · PreprintBiophysics