Modeling multicellular systems using subcellular elements

• Published in: Mathematical biosciences and engineering : MBE Vol. 2; no. 3; p. 613
• Main Author: Newman, T J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.2005
• ISSN: 1547-1063
• DOI: 10.3934/mbe.2005.2.613

We introduce a model for describing the dynamics of large numbers of interacting cells. The fundamental dynamical variables in the model are subcellular elements, which interact with each other through phenomenological intra- and intercellular potentials. Advantages of the model include i) adaptive cell-shape dynamics, ii) flexible accommodation of additional intracellular biology, and iii) the absence of an underlying grid. We present here a detailed description of the model, and use successive mean-field approximations to connect it to more coarse-grained approaches, such as discrete cell-based algorithms and coupled partial differential equations. We also discuss efficient algorithms for encoding the model, and give an example of a simulation of an epithelial sheet. Given the biological flexibility of the model, we propose that it can be used effectively for modeling a range of multicellular processes, such as tumor dynamics and embryogenesis.