Emergence of spatial patterns in a mathematical model for the co-culture dynamics of epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like cells
Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that the interaction between epithelial and mesenchymal cells plays a pivotal role in cancer development and metastasis formation. Here we propose an integro-differential model for the co-culture dynamics of epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like cells. Our model takes into account the effects of chemotaxis, adhesive interactions between epithelial-like cells, proliferation and competition for nutrients. We present a sample of numerical results which display the emergence of spots, stripes and honeycomb patterns, depending on parameters and initial data. These simulations also suggest that epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like cells can segregate when there is little competition for nutrients. Furthermore, our computational results provide a possible explanation for how the concerted action between epithelial-cell adhesion and mesenchymal-cell spreading can precipitate the formation of ring-like structures, which resemble the fibrous capsules frequently observed in hepatic tumours.
Citation
Delitala , M & Lorenzi , T 2017 , ' Emergence of spatial patterns in a mathematical model for the co-culture dynamics of epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like cells ' , Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering , vol. 14 , no. 1 , pp. 79-93 . https://doi.org/10.3934/mbe.2017006
Publication
Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1547-1063Type
Journal article
Collections
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