Elton Diêgo Bonifácio , Cleudmar Amaral Araújo , Marcília Valéria Guimarães , Márcio Peres de Souza , Thiago Parente Lima , Bethânia Alves de Avelar Freitas , Libardo Andrés González-Torres
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying the formation of necrotic regions within avascular tumors are complex and poorly understood. In this paper, we investigate the formation of a necrotic core in a 3D tumor cell culture within a microfluidic device, considering oxygen, nutrients, and the microenvironment acidification by means of a computational-mathematical model. Our objective is to simulate cell processes, including proliferation and death inside a microfluidic device, according to the microenvironmental conditions. We employed approximation utilizing finite element models taking into account glucose, oxygen, and hydrogen ions diffusion, consumption and production, as well as cell proliferation, migration and death, addressing how tumor cells evolve under different conditions. The resulting mathematical model was examined under different scenarios, being capable of reproducing cell death and proliferation under different cell concentrations, and the formation of a necrotic core, in good agreement with experimental data reported in the literature. This approach not only advances our fundamental understanding of necrotic core formation but also provides a robust computational platform to study personalized therapeutic strategies, offering an important tool in cancer research and treatment design.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Theoretical Biology is the leading forum for theoretical perspectives that give insight into biological processes. It covers a very wide range of topics and is of interest to biologists in many areas of research, including:
• Brain and Neuroscience
• Cancer Growth and Treatment
• Cell Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology
• Evolution
• Immunology,
• Infectious and non-infectious Diseases,
• Mathematical, Computational, Biophysical and Statistical Modeling
• Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry
• Networks and Complex Systems
• Physiology
• Pharmacodynamics
• Animal Behavior and Game Theory
Acceptable papers are those that bear significant importance on the biology per se being presented, and not on the mathematical analysis. Papers that include some data or experimental material bearing on theory will be considered, including those that contain comparative study, statistical data analysis, mathematical proof, computer simulations, experiments, field observations, or even philosophical arguments, which are all methods to support or reject theoretical ideas. However, there should be a concerted effort to make papers intelligible to biologists in the chosen field.