An interdisciplinary study explaining the dynamics underlying biological motion – one of the most obvious expressions of self-organization. Designed for a broad audience from bioscientists to applied mathematicians, this book considers possible synergetic mechanisms of interaction and cooperation on different microscopic levels.

Explores a Range of Multiscale Biomechanics/Mechanobiology ConceptsCell and Matrix Mechanics presents cutting-edge research at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels in the field of cell mechanics. This book involves key experts in the field, and covers crucial areas of cell and tissue mechanics, with an emphasis on the roles of mechanical forc

In this thesis, we investigate the collective organization of cells by cell division and cell death. The multicellular dynamics of growing tissues is influenced by mechanical conditions and can give rise to cell movements. We develop a continuum description of tissue dynamics, which describes the stress distribution and the cell flow field on large scales. Cell division and apoptosis introduce stress sources that, in general, are anisotropic. We show that the tissue effectively behaves as a viscoelastic fluid with a relaxation time set by the rates of division and apoptosis. If the tissue is confined in a fixed volume, it reaches a state in which division and apoptosis balance. In this state, cells undergo a diffusive motion driven by the stochasticity of division and apoptosis. We calculate the diffusion coefficient and compare our results concerning both diffusion and viscosity to simulations of multicellular systems. Introducing a second material component that accounts for the extracellular fluid, we show that a finite permeability of the tissue gives rise to additional mechanical effects. In the limit of long times, the mechanical response of the tissue to external perturbations is confined to a region of which the size depends on the ratio of tissue viscosity and cell-fluid friction. Last but not least, we study the propagation of an interface between two different cell populations within a tissue. We distinguish two different modes of propagation of the more proliferative population: a diffusive regime in which relative fluxes dominate the expansion, and a propulsive regime in which the proliferation gives rise to dominating convective flows.

This book contains a collection of original research articles and review articles that describe novel mathematical modeling techniques and the application of those techniques to models of cell motility in a variety of contexts. The aim is to highlight some of the recent mathematical work geared at understanding the coordination of intracellular processes involved in the movement of cells. This collection will benefit researchers interested in cell motility as well graduate students taking a topics course in this area.

Aimed at postgraduate students in a variety of biology-related disciplines, this volume presents a collection of mathematical and computational single-cell-based models and their application. The main sections cover four general model groupings: hybrid cellular automata, cellular potts, lattice-free cells, and viscoelastic cells. Each section is introduced by a discussion of the applicability of the particular modelling approach and its advantages and disadvantages, which will make the book suitable for students starting research in mathematical biology as well as scientists modelling multicellular processes.