Models, measurement and inference in epithelial tissue dynamics

TL;DR

This paper reviews mathematical and computational models of epithelial tissue dynamics, highlighting their applications in understanding tumor growth and tissue regulation, and discusses future challenges for model validation with new data.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of existing models of epithelial tissues and outlines future challenges for model validation using new experimental data.

Findings

Different modeling approaches have been used to study epithelia.

Future data will enable detailed validation and comparison of models.

Addressing current challenges is key to advancing tissue dynamics understanding.

Abstract

The majority of solid tumours arise in epithelia and therefore much research effort has gone into investigating the growth, renewal and regulation of these tissues. Here we review different mathematical and computational approaches that have been used to model epithelia. We compare different models and describe future challenges that need to be overcome in order to fully exploit new data which present, for the first time, the real possibility for detailed model validation and comparison.