Speaker
Description
The Cellular Potts Model (CPM) is a cell-based model that provides a stochastic, energy minimisation based approach for modelling collective cell behaviour and tissue organisation. Currently, the CPM is defined over a fixed 2D lattice, restricting applicability to tissues that evolve on static planar domains. However, many epithelial and endothelial cell populations reside on curved and deformable surfaces where cellular dynamics and the evolving surface geometry are intrinsically coupled.
In this talk, we will present an extension of the classical CPM in which cells evolve over a deformable elastic surface embedded in 3D in the context of vascular regression. The surface of the capillary walls are represented by triangulated surface meshes and evolve according to a finite element model of hyperelastic deformation, with the coupled cellular dynamics determined through the classic CPM Hamiltonian. Through this coupling, cellular forces influence surface mechanics and vice versa. This framework is implemented within the open-source Chaste infrastructure.
We will first describe and validate our novel deformable CPM model by reproducing behaviour consistent with the classical CPM across static planar and curved surfaces. We then examine how endothelial cells integrate competing mechanical cues arising from haemodynamic forcing and intercellular adhesion, and how these interactions contribute to the reorganisation and optimisation of vascular networks.
