UBC Math Bio Seminar: Jared Barber

Cell migration plays a role in many contexts including cancer cell metastasis and wound healing. Better characterizing the process can help us slow down or speed up cells and improve related conditions. To this end, we developed two different models of cell migration across a flat substrate. The first one-dimensional model represents just the protein (actin) network that pushes the front of the cell forward. It consists of nearly parallel oriented line segments. It is primarily governed by two dimensionless quantities that represent a tension that keeps the line of proteins straight and the aspect ratio (width vs height) of the network. We show how changing just these quantities can produce different behaviors suggesting potential mechanisms for controlling migration. The second model is of a three-dimensional cell represented by a collection of viscoelastic components aka damped springs. Its motion is governed by a system of ordinary differential equations and includes stretching and bending elasticities and a constrained volume. It is primarily designed for considering focal adhesion forces, which are experimentally measurable. Here we show its capabilities including typical dynamics, forces, and some comparison with experiment.