A
multiscale model for simulation of morphogenesis
Mark Alber,
University of Notre Dame
In this talk we discuss different applications to modeling
biological pattern formation of two different types of Cellular Automata: lattice-gas-based
cellular automata (LGCA) and the extended cellular Potts model (CPM).
LGCA was originally developed for modeling ideal gases and fluids.
We describe several extensions of the classical LGCA model to groups of
self-driven biological cells including recent models for rippling, aggregation
of cells and swarming in myxobacteria,
as well as to limb chondrogenesis in micromass culture.
The CPM is a more sophisticated CA which describes individual
cells as extended objects of variable shape. We discuss various new extensions
to the original Potts model and describe their application to morphogenesis,
the development of a complex spatial structure by a collection of cells
including cell sorting in aggregates of embryonic chicken cells. These models
include intercellular and extracellular interactions, as well as cell growth.