Computational Modeling of Angiogenesis: Towards a Multi-Scale Understanding of Cell–Cell and Cell–Matrix Interactions - Mechanical and Chemical Signaling in Angiogenesis - page 158

Computational Modeling of Angiogenesis:
Towards a Multi-Scale Understanding
of Cell-Cell and Cell-Matrix Interactions

Sonja E. M. Boas, Margriet M. Palm, Pieter Koolwijk
and Roeland M. H. Merks

Abstract Combined with in vitro and in vivo experiments, mathematical and
computational modeling are key to unraveling how mechanical and chemical
signaling by endothelial cells coordinates their organization into capillary-like
tubes. While in vitro and in vivo experiments can unveil the effects of,
for example, environmental changes or gene knockouts, computational models
provide a way to formalize and understand the mechanisms underlying these
observations. This chapter reviews recent computational approaches to model
angiogenesis, and discusses the insights they provide into the mechanisms of
angiogenesis. We introduce a new cell-based computational model of an in vitro
assay of angiogenic sprouting from endothelial monolayers in fibrin matrices.
Endothelial cells are modeled by the Cellular Potts Model, combined with
continuum descriptions to model haptotaxis and proteolysis of the extracellular
matrix. The computational model demonstrates how a variety of cellular structural

S. E. M. Boas M. M. Palm R. M. H. Merks ( )

Centrum Wiskunde and Informatica, 1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
e-mail: [e-mail]
S. E. M. Boas
e-mail: [e-mail]
M. M. Palm
e-mail: [e-mail]
S. E. M. Boas M. M. Palm R. M. H. Merks
Netherlands Consortium for Systems Biology, Netherlands Institute for Systems Biology,
1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
P. Koolwijk
VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
e-mail: [e-mail]

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