%0 Journal Article
%T Poissonian Cellular Potts Models Reveal Nonequilibrium Kinetics of Cell Sorting.
%A Belousov R
%A Savino S
%A Moghe P
%A Hiiragi T
%A Rondoni L
%A Erzberger A
%J Phys Rev Lett
%V 132
%N 24
%D 2024 Jun 14
%M 38949349
%F 9.185
%R 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.248401
%X Cellular Potts models are broadly applied across developmental biology and cancer research. We overcome limitations of the traditional approach, which reinterprets a modified Metropolis sampling as ad hoc dynamics, by introducing a physical timescale through Poissonian kinetics and by applying principles of stochastic thermodynamics to separate thermal and relaxation effects from athermal noise and nonconservative forces. Our method accurately describes cell-sorting dynamics in mouse-embryo development and identifies the distinct contributions of nonequilibrium processes, e.g., cell growth and active fluctuations.