Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 223, 1265-1277 (2014)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2014-02190-2

Regular Article

Modular approach for modeling cell motility

¹ Theoretische Physik I, Universität Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
² Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
³ Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60202, USA

^a e-mail: fziebert@gmail.com
^b e-mail: aronson@anl.gov

Received: 20 December 2013
Revised: 14 April 2014
Published online: 12 June 2014

Abstract

Modeling cell movement is a challenging task since the motility machinery is highly complex. Moreover, there is a rather broad diversity of different cell types. In order to obtain insights into generic features of the motility mechanisms of several distinct cell types, we propose a modular approach that starts with a minimal model, consisting of a phase field description of the moving cell boundary and a simplified internal dynamics. We discuss how this starting point can be extended to increase the level of detail, and how the internal dynamics “module” can be changed/adjusted to properly model various cell types. The former route allows studying specific processes involved in cell motility in the framework of a self-organized moving domain, and the latter might permit to put different cellular motility mechanisms into a unified framework.