506 Computational Modeling and Simulation of Cell Mechanics

José Manuel Garcia-Aznar, Universidad de Zaragoza
Mohammad Kaazempur Mofrad, University of California
Patrick McGarry, NUI Galway
Taiji Adachi, Kyoto University
 
The behaviour of cells is very sensitive to mechanical conditions from the surrounding microenvironment. So, cells are able to sense the mechanical signals and accordingly update their behaviour. There are many mechanims that cells can use to sense these mechanical factors. Actually, these mechanisms can be passive due to the mechanical properties that characterizes cell behaviour or active, because cells can exert forces to the surroundings in order to probe its mechanical conditions. The complexity of all these sensing mechanisms has required the use of multiple and complementary methodologies to advance in its understanding. Computational modeling technology is actually one of the most recognized approaches used to understand cell mechanics behaviour. By this term of cell mechanics, we consider multiple multiphysics phenomena that include molecular interactions, both chemical and mechanical, that influence cell signaling, adhesion, migration, differentiation, metabolism, the cell cycle, gene expression, protein transcription, and mass transport within and across cells. Hence, multiscale and multiphysics modeling is fundamental to comprehend the mechanical response of cellular systems from molecules to cells.

Therefore, in this minisymposium, we aim to show different and novel numerical approaches to model the mechanical behaviour of cells at different scales and for different phenomena. Certainly different kind of numerical approaches can be established from continuum-based models to particle-based models.