Global cell-cell communication enables spatial segregation of cells in organoids of the inner cell mass

The paper defines the signal si and PCFs precisely and supports all trend claims with simulations; it also derives the stability window −Δεg ∈ (6, 7.87) from explicit bounds on s using ηα = e−Δεα (and the sign convention −Δεs = −Δεns = 2 ⇒ e−Δεs−Δεns = e4), which matches the stated 7.87 when max si ≤ rg/γg = 0.1 . By contrast, the model solution miscomputes the upper bound (producing ≈11.70) due to a sign/parameter mix-up, and its explanation of PCF trends relies on q-dependent denominators pgg, pnn. But in the paper’s PCF-vs-q experiment, the global class ratio is fixed (88:89), so pgg and pnn do not vary with q; the observed large-distance decrease of ρn with increasing q thus reflects a decrease of the raw pair counts, contradicting the model’s claim that these raw counts must be nondecreasing . The proposed ‘contraction’ argument for s-differences is also not established: the key term qm−1(1−q)/Z(q) is not monotone in q for m≥2, so the asserted strict decrease of neighbor s-differences with q is unproven. The paper’s size-invariance claim is empirical and consistent across M (93, 177, 324) ; the model’s shell-scaling rationale is plausible but unsubstantiated.