A preliminary study of endothelial cell migration during angiogenesis using a meshless method approach

• Published in: International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering 2020-11, Vol.36 (11), p.e3393-n/a
• Main Authors: Guerra, Ana, Belinha, Jorge, Natal Jorge, Renato
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Angiogenesis; Biological activity; Biological effects; Blood; Capillaries; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell migration; Cell proliferation; chemo‐attractant effect; Complexity; Computer applications; Diffusion effects; Economic models; endothelial cell migration; Endothelial cells; Finite element method; Growth factors; Interpolation; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Meshless methods; Polynomials; Radial basis function; radial point interpolation method; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Wound healing
• ISSN: 2040-7939; 2040-7947
• DOI: 10.1002/cnm.3393

Angiogenesis, the development of new blood capillaries, is crucial for the wound healing process. This biological process allows the proper blood supply to the tissue, essential for cell proliferation and viability. Several biological factors modulate angiogenesis, however the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the main one. Given the complexity of angiogenesis, in the last years, computational modelling aroused the interest of scientists since it allows to model this process with different, more economic and faster methodologies, comparatively to experimental approaches. In this work, a mathematical model motivated by the analysis of the effect of VEGF diffusion gradient in endothelial cell migration is presented. This is the process that allows capillary formation and it is essential for angiogenesis. The proposed mathematical model is combined with the Radial Point Interpolation Method, being the area discretized considering an unorganized nodal cloud and a background mesh of integration points, without predefined relations. The nodal connectivity was achieved using the “influence‐domain” approach. The interpolation functions were constructed using the Radial Point Interpolators techniques. This method combines a radial basis functions with a polynomial functions to obtain the approximation. This preliminary work does not account for the whole complexity of cell and tissue biology, and numerical results are presented for an idealised two‐dimensional setting. Nevertheless, the developed RPIM software is a valid numerical tool that can be adjusted to biological problems and may also be able to complement the biological and medical subjects. In this work, a mathematical model developed to simulate the individual endothelial cell migration modulated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) diffusion is presented. In the simulations, it was verified that the endothelial cells migrate from the mother‐capillary to the wound, following the highest VEGF concentration. Several biological aspects were neglected to decrease model complexity, however the vascular network obtained was somehow similar to the one obtained in vivo.