Modeling extracellular matrix viscoelasticity using smoothed particle hydrodynamics with improved boundary treatment

We propose viscoelastic smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) with extended boundary conditions as a new method to model the extracellular matrix (ECM) in contact with a migrating cell. The contact mechanics between a cell and ECM is modeled based on an existing boundary method in SPH that corrects for the well-known missing kernel support problem in Fluid Structure Interactions (FSI). This boundary method is here extended to allow the modeling of moving boundaries in contact with a viscoelastic solid. To validate the method, simulations are performed of tractions applied to a viscoelastic solid, Stokes flow around an array of square pillars, and indentation of a viscoelastic material with a circular indenter. By drop out of the inertial terms in the SPH equations of motion, the new SPH formulation allows to solve problems in a low Reynolds environment with a timestep independent of the particle spacing, permitting to model processes at the cellular scale (i.e. μm-scale). The potential of the method to capture cell-ECM interactions is demonstrated by simulation of a self propelling object that locally degrades the ECM by fluidizing it to permit migration. This should enable us to model and understand realistic cellâmatrix interactions in the future.

Jaar van publicatie:2017

BOF-keylabel:ja

IOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:10

CSS-citation score:2

Auteurs:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Open