Predicting migration of the enterocyte layer using a two-dimensional mathematical model

Julia Arciero, University of Pittsburgh,

Injury to the intestinal lining is repaired via rapid migration of enterocytes at the wound edge. Mathematical modeling of the mechanisms governing cell migration may provide insight into the factors that promote or impair epithelial restitution. A two-dimensional continuum mechanical model is used to simulate the motion of the epithelial layer in response to a wound. The effects of the force generated by lamellipods, the adhesion between cells and the cell matrix, and the elasticity of the cell layer are included in the model. The partial differential equation describing the evolution of the wound edge is solved numerically using a level set method, and several wound shapes are analyzed. The initial geometry of the simulated wound is defined from the coordinates of an experimental wound taken from cell migration movies. The location and velocity of the wound edge predicted by the model is compared with the position and velocity of the recorded wound edge. These comparisons show good qualitative agreement between model results and experimental observations.

This is joint work with Qi Mi and David Swigon.