title: A discrete in continuous mathematical model of cardiac progenitor cells formation and growth as spheroid clusters (Cardiospheres).
abstract: We propose a discrete in continuous mathematical model describing the in vitro growth process of biophsy-derived mammalian cardiac progenitor cells growing as clusters in the form of spheres (Cardiospheres). The approach is hybrid: discrete at cellular scale and continuous at molecular level. In the present model, cells are subject to the self-organizing collective dynamics mechanism and, additionally, they can proliferate and differentiate, also depending on stochastic processes. The two latter processes are triggered and regulated by chemical signals present in the environment. Numerical simulations show the structure and the development of the clustered progenitors and are in a good agreement with the results obtained from in vitro experiments.
authors.affiliation: Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ezio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Costanzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Pasteur Institute Cenci-Bolognetti Foundation, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giacomello
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.affiliation: Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Natalini
authors.affiliation: Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pontrelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Pasteur Institute Cenci-Bolognetti Foundation, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.affiliation: Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Twarogowska
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D032386:Myoblasts, Cardiac / Q000502:physiology*; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*