Hybrid cellular Potts and bead-spring modeling of cells in fibrous extracellular matrix.

ABSTRACT: The mechanical interaction between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) is fundamental to coordinate collective cell behavior in tissues. Relating individual cell-level mechanics to tissue-scale collective behavior is a challenge that cell-based models such as the cellular Potts model (CPM) are well-positioned to address. These models generally represent the ECM with mean-field approaches, which assume substrate homogeneity. This assumption breaks down with fibrous ECM, which has nontrivial structure and mechanics. Here, we extend the CPM with a bead-spring model of ECM fiber networks modeled using molecular dynamics. We model a contractile cell pulling with discrete focal adhesion-like sites on the fiber network and demonstrate agreement with experimental spatiotemporal fiber densific

SUBMITTER: Tsingos E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10397577 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature