A simple mathematical model of cell clustering by chemotaxis

A mathematical model of cell movement and clustering due to chemotaxis

This paper presents a numerical method for modelling cell migration and aggregation due to chemotaxis where the cell is attracted towards the direction in which the concentration of a chemical signal is increasing. In the model presented here, each cell is represented by a system of springs connected together at node points on the cell's membrane and on the boundary of the cell's nucleus. The nodes located on a cell's membrane are subject to a force which is proportional to the gradient of the concentration of the chemical signal which mimics the behaviour of the chemical receptors in the cell's membrane. In particular, the model developed here will consider what happens when two (or more) cells collide and how their membranes connect to each other to form clusters of cells. The methods described in this paper will be illustrated with a number of typical examples simulating cells moving in response to a chemical signal and how they combine to form clusters.

Modelling the motion of clusters of cells in a viscous fluid using the boundary integral method

In experiments clusters of cells are often observed to move in response to a chemical signal which is present in the fluid surrounding the cells. This process is known as chemotaxis. This paper presents a method for modelling the motion of clusters of cells moving through a viscous fluid in response to a known chemical signal using a boundary integral formulation of the governing equations rather than the more usual differential equation formulation. The numerical results presented in this paper show that the boundary integral method can be used to simulate the motion of cell clusters through the fluid. The results of the simulations are compared to some experimental observations of cell and cluster motion.