Discrete network models of endothelial cells and their interactions with the substrate

Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2024 Feb 14. doi: 10.1007/s10237-023-01815-1. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTEndothelial cell monolayers line the inner surfaces of blood and lymphatic vessels. They are continuously exposed to different mechanical loads, which may trigger mechanobiological signals and hence play a role in both physiological and pathological processes. Computer-based mechanical models of cells contribute to a better understanding of the relation between cell-scale loads and cues and the mechanical state of the hosting tissue. However, the confluency of the endothelial monolayer complicates these approaches since the intercellular cross-talk needs to be accounted for in addition to the cytoskeletal mechanics of the individual cells themselves. As a consequence, the computational approach must be able to efficiently model a large number of cells and their interaction. Here, we simulate cytoskeletal mechanics by means of molecular dynamics software, generally suitable to deal with large, locally interacting systems. Methods were developed to generate models of single cells and large monolayers with hundreds of cells. The single-cell model was considered for a comparison with experimental data. To this end, we simulated cell interactions with a continuous, deformable substrate, and computationally replicated multistep traction force microscopy experiments on endothelial cells. The results indicate that cell discrete network models are able to capture relevant features of...

Source: Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - February 14, 2024 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Raphael Jakob Ben R Britt Costanza Giampietro Edoardo Mazza Alexander E Ehret Source Type: research