Abstract:
We have developed a software system that simulates chemotaxis-based cell
aggregation in 2D. The model implemented within the system consists of
such cell behaviors as chemical diffusion/detection, motility,
proliferation, adhesion and life cycle stages. Each virtual cell
detects the state of the environment, and responds to the environment
based on a pre-defined "program" and its own internal state. Cells are
discrete units that are located on a grid, exist in discrete states
(e.g. active or dying) and perform discrete tasks (e.g. divide and
attach), but they also contain and are affected by continuous quantities
(e.g. chemoattractant concentrations, gradients, age and velocities).
This paper provides an overview of our chemotaxis-based aggregation model
and details the algorithms required to perform chemotaxis-based cell
aggregation simulation. A number of biological studies are being
conducted with the system. They include fine-tuning the model parameters
to reproduce in vitro PC12 cell aggregation experiments and parametric
studies that demonstrate the effect that the model's components have on
cell aggregation dynamics.
