TY - JOUR T1 - How to Pare a Pair: Topology Control and Pruning in Intertwined Complex Networks JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/763649 SP - 763649 AU - Felix Kramer AU - Carl Modes Y1 - 2019/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/09/09/763649.abstract N2 - Recent work on self-organized remodelling of vasculature in slime-mold, leaf venation systems and vessel systems in vertebrates has put forward a plethora of potential adaptation mechanisms. All these share the underlying hypothesis of a flow-driven machinery, meant to prune primary plexi in order to optimize the system’s dissipation, flow uniformity, or more, with different versions of constraints. Nevertheless, the influence of environmental factors on the long-term adaptation dynamics as well as the networks structure and function have not been fully understood. Therefore, interwoven capillary systems such as found in the liver, kidney and pancreas, present a novel challenge and key opportunity regarding the field of coupled distribution networks. We here present an advanced version of the discrete Hu-Cai model, coupling two spatial networks in 3D. We show that spatial coupling of two flow-adapting networks can control the onset of topological complexity given the system is exposed to short-term flow fluctuations. Further, our approach results in an alternative form of Murray’s law, which incorporates local vessel interactions and flow interactions. This scaling law allows for the estimation of the parameters in lumped parameter models and respective experimentally acquired network skeletons. ER -