title: Emergence of spatial patterns in a mathematical model for the co-culture dynamics of epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like cells.
abstract: Accumulating evidence indicates that the interaction between epithelial and mesenchymal cells plays a pivotal role in cancer development and metastasis formation. Here we propose an integro-differential model for the co-culture dynamics of epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like cells. Our model takes into account the effects of chemotaxis, adhesive interactions between epithelial-like cells, proliferation and competition for nutrients. We present a sample of numerical results which display the emergence of spots, stripes and honeycomb patterns, depending on parameters and initial data. These simulations also suggest that epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like cells can segregate when there is little competition for nutrients. Furthermore, our computational results provide a possible explanation for how the concerted action between epithelial-cell adhesion and mesenchymal-cell spreading can precipitate the formation of ring-like structures, which resemble the fibrous capsules frequently observed in hepatic tumours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy. email: marcello.delitala@polito.it.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delitala
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lorenzi
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology*; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D008954:Models, Biological