CPM Seminar

Multiple scale model for cell migration in monolayers:
Elastic mismatch between cells enhances mobility

Martin Grant

McGill University

We propose a multiscale phase-field model for monolayer of motile cells that comprise normal and cancer cells. In the model, the two types of cells have identical properties except for their elasticity; cancer cells are softer and normal cells are stiffer. The simulation results demonstrate that elasticity mismatch alone is sufficient to increase the motility of the cancer cell significantly. Further, the trajectory of the cancer cell is decorated by several speed “bursts” where the cancer cell quickly relaxes from a largely deformed shape and consequently increases its translational motion. The increased motility and the amplitude and frequency of the bursts are in qualitative agreement with recent experiments.

To further study this phenomena, we have introduced a sharp-interface version of this approach. This new model offers over a 200 fold speedup when compared to our original implementation. We demonstrate that this model captures similar behavior and allows us to obtain new results that were previously intractable.

Palmieri, Bresler, Wirtz, and Grant, Sci. Rep. 5, 11745 (2015).
Bresler, Palmieri, and Grant (preprint, 2018).
Bresler, Palmieri, and Grant (preprint, 2018).