Cell Modeling Based on Bubbles with Weighted Membranes

J Comput Biol. 2019 Mar;26(3):241-265. doi: 10.1089/cmb.2018.0205. Epub 2019 Jan 9.

Abstract

Mathematicization for cell modeling provides an effective tool to verify the biological theory, and the existing research mainly focuses on the description of cell structures. This article then addresses the pattern question of cell division or morphogenesis by means of bubble model with weighted membranes. In this study, we show that cell shapes including intersection angles at junction points depend on weights on membranes. For convenience, adhesion and contractile force are considered together as a factor in construction of patterning model. This model is also used to compare with experimental data. And the consistency between our model and experiments is also obtained consequently. This system of differential equations with their boundary conditions theorizes the existing experimental models, and improves the rationality of these models.

Keywords: bubble; cell pattern; differential equation model; variational principle.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Membrane / chemistry
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism*
  • Cell Shape
  • Chlorophyta
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Drosophila
  • Models, Theoretical*