Modelling chase-and-run migration in heterogeneous populations.

ABSTRACT: Cell migration is crucial for many physiological and pathological processes. During embryogenesis, neural crest cells undergo coordinated epithelial to mesenchymal transformations and migrate towards various forming organs. Here we develop a computational model to understand how mutual interactions between migrating neural crest cells (NCs) and the surrounding population of placode cells (PCs) generate coordinated migration. According to experimental findings, we implement a minimal set of hypotheses, based on a coupling between chemotactic movement of NCs in response to a placode-secreted chemoattractant (Sdf1) and repulsion induced from contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL), triggered by heterotypic NC-PC contacts. This basic set of assumptions is able to semi-quantitatively recapitulat

SUBMITTER: Colombi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7012813 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature