HGF-Induced Cell Scatter - Cellular Potts Models: Multiscale Extensions and Biological Applications - page 25

FIGURE 2.7: Wound-healing process: evolution in time of a simulation ini-
tiated with two masses of 120 ARO cells: (A) 1 h,(B) 8 h, (C) 12 h, (D) 16 h,
(E) 20 h, and (F) 24 h.
2.4 Mathematical Model for MLP-29 Aggregates
As in the case of AROs, MLP-29 cells are represented as standard discrete
CPM objects of type = C, which are cultured in an isotropic extracellular
medium of type = M. In MLP-29 colonies, the stimulation with HGF cause
not only an enhancement of cell motility and dispersion, but also a chemotactic
stimulus. The MLP-29 individuals therefore move toward directions of higher
morphogen concentrations and, still trying to keep contact with the rest of
the aggregate, they elongate. In addition, such a polarization process triggers
a significant persistent component of motion of MLP29 cells. A change in the
direction of movement, in fact, take time, as it requires the reorganization of
the cell cytoskeletal machinery.
These ingredients, not contained in the basic model for AROs but essen-
tial for the branching morphogenesis and the subsequent formation of the
stellar shape aggregates experimentally found, need to be implemented by the
addition of appropriate terms in the Hamiltonian in Equation (2.1).
In particular, the chemical response is given by relation (1.9), which results