A non-local kinetic model for cell migration: a study of the interplay between contact guidance and steric hindrance

TL;DR

This paper introduces a non-local kinetic model for cell migration influenced by extracellular matrix cues, capturing contact guidance and steric hindrance effects, validated against breast cancer cell migration experiments.

Contribution

It derives a kinetic model from microscopic stochastic processes and demonstrates its ability to predict cell behaviors in heterogeneous environments.

Findings

Model reproduces experimental cell migration patterns

Validates the importance of microscopic mechanisms

Predicts cell behavior in diverse microenvironments

Abstract

We propose a non-local model for contact guidance and steric hindrance depending on a single external cue, namely the extracellular matrix, that affects in a twofold way the polarization and speed of motion of the cells. We start from a microscopic description of the stochastic processes underlying the cell re-orientation mechanism related to the change of cell speed and direction. Then, we formally derive the corresponding kinetic model that implements exactly the prescribed microscopic dynamics and, from it, it is possible to deduce the macroscopic limit in the appropriate regime. Moreover, we test our model in several scenarios. In particular, we numerically investigate the minimal microscopic mechanisms that are necessary to reproduce cell dynamics by comparing the outcomes of our model with some experimental results related to breast cancer cell migration. This allows us to validate the proposed modeling approach and, also, to highlight its capability of predicting the qualitative cell behaviors in diverse heterogeneous microenvironments.