A Bayesian hierarchical model for maximizing the vascular adhesion of nanoparticles.
The complex vascular dynamics and wall deposition of systemically injected nanoparticles is regulated by their geometrical properties (size, shape) and biophysical parameters (ligand-receptor bond type and surface density, local shear rates). Although sophisticated computational models have been developed to capture the vascular behavior of nanoparticles, it is increasingly recognized that purely deterministic approaches, where the governing parameters are known a priori and conclusively describe behaviors based on physical characteristics, may be too restrictive to accurately reflect natural processes. Here, a novel computational framework is proposed by coupling the physics dictating the vascular adhesion of nanoparticles with a stochastic model. In particular, two governing parameters (i.e. the ligand-receptor bond length and the ligand surface density on the nanoparticle) are treated as two stochastic quantities, whose values are not fixed a priori but would rather range in defined intervals with a certain probability. This approach is used to predict the deposition of spherical nanoparticles with different radii, ranging from 750 to 6,000nm, in a parallel plate flow chamber under different flow conditions, with a shear rate ranging from 50 to 90 sec-1. It is demonstrated that the resulting stochastic model can predict the experimental data more accurately than the original deterministic model. This approach allows one to increase the predictive power of mathematical models of any natural process by accounting for the experimental and intrinsic biological uncertainties.
Rice University, Department of Statistics, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005.
Kassandra
K
Fronczyk
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Biostatistics, 1400 Pressler Dr., Houston, TX 77030.
Michele
M
Guindani
Rice University, Department of Statistics, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005.
Marina
M
Vannucci
Houston Methodist Research Institute, Department of Translational Imaging, 6670 Bertner Ave., Houston, TX 77030.
Annalisa
A
Palange
Houston Methodist Research Institute, Department of Translational Imaging, 6670 Bertner Ave., Houston, TX 77030.
Paolo
P
Decuzzi
Bayesian Inference; Nanomedicine; Uncertainty Quantification; Vascular Adhesion