PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tamara A. Tambyah
AU  - Ryan J. Murphy
AU  - Pascal R. Buenzli
AU  - Matthew J. Simpson
TI  - A free boundary mechanobiological model of epithelial tissues
AID  - 10.1101/2020.07.02.185686
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.07.02.185686
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/05/2020.07.02.185686.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/05/2020.07.02.185686.full
AB  - In this study, we couple intracellular signalling and cell–based mechanical properties to develop a novel free boundary mechanobiological model of epithelial tissue dynamics. Mechanobiological coupling is introduced at the cell level in a discrete modelling framework, and new reaction–diffusion equations are derived to describe tissue–level outcomes. The free boundary evolves as a result of the underlying biological mechanisms included in the discrete model. To demonstrate the accuracy of the continuum model, we compare numerical solutions of the discrete and continuum models for two different signalling pathways. First, we study the Rac–Rho pathway where cell- and tissue–level mechanics are directly related to intracellular signalling. Second, we study an activator–inhibitor system which gives rise to spatial and temporal patterning related to Turing patterns. In all cases, the continuum model and free boundary condition accurately reflect the cell–level processes included in the discrete model.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.