title: A mathematical model quantifies proliferation and motility effects of TGF-β on cancer cells.
abstract: Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β is known to have properties of both a tumour suppressor and a tumour promoter. While it inhibits cell proliferation, it also increases cell motility and decreases cell-cell adhesion. Coupling mathematical modelling and experiments, we investigate the growth and motility of oncogene-expressing human mammary epithelial cells under exposure to TGF-β. We use a version of the well-known Fisher-Kolmogorov equation, and prescribe a procedure for its parametrisation. We quantify the simultaneous effects of TGF-β to increase the tendency of individual cells and cell clusters to move randomly and to decrease overall population growth. We demonstrate that in experiments with TGF-β treated cellsin vitro, TGF-β increases cell motility by a factor of 2 and decreases cell proliferation by a factor of 1/2 in comparison with untreated cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Shizhen Emily
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hinow
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bryce
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Alissa M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Estrada
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Arteaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Glenn F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Webb
keywords: Fisher–Kolmogorov equation; cell growth and motility; mathematical model; transforming growth factor (TGF)-β