Erschienen:
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2022
Erschienen in:PLOS Computational Biology
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010762
ISSN:
1553-7358
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
<jats:p>We introduce a modelling and simulation framework for cell aggregates in three dimensions based on interacting active surfaces. Cell mechanics is captured by a physical description of the acto-myosin cortex that includes cortical flows, viscous forces, active tensions, and bending moments. Cells interact with each other via short-range forces capturing the effect of adhesion molecules. We discretise the model equations using a finite element method, and provide a parallel implementation in C++. We discuss examples of application of this framework to small and medium-sized aggregates: we consider the shape and dynamics of a cell doublet, a planar cell sheet, and a growing cell aggregate. This framework opens the door to the systematic exploration of the cell to tissue-scale mechanics of cell aggregates, which plays a key role in the morphogenesis of embryos and organoids.</jats:p>