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Updated: May 25, 2026

A Triple Culture Cell System Modeling the Human Blood-Brain Barrier

A Triple Culture Cell System Modeling the Human Blood-Brain Barrier

Published on: November 30, 2021

A computational model of bleb formation.

Wanda Strychalski¹, Robert D Guy

¹Department of Mathematics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. wanda@math.ucdavis.edu

Mathematical Medicine and Biology : a Journal of the IMA

|February 2, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cancer cells use blebs for migration. A computational model reveals how cytoplasmic viscosity and drag influence bleb formation time, predicting cell properties for motility in 3D matrices.

Keywords:

blebbing cell cortex cell mechanics immersed boundary method intracellular fluid flow porous media

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Area of Science:

Cell biology
Biophysics
Computational modeling

Background:

Blebbing, a process of cell membrane expansion, is crucial for cell motility.
Metastatic cancer cells utilize blebbing for migration through complex 3D environments.
Understanding the biophysical mechanisms of blebbing is key to inhibiting cancer spread.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a dynamic computational model of cell blebbing.
To investigate the roles of cytoplasmic viscosity and cortex-cytosol drag in bleb formation time.
To predict biophysical properties like Darcy permeability and cortex volume fraction.

Main Methods:

A dynamic computational model simulating intracellular fluid, actin cortex, and cell membrane interactions was developed.
The model explored the influence of cytoplasmic viscosity and drag on bleb formation timescales.
Model parameters were calibrated to match observed bleb formation times.

Main Results:

A specific range of drag coefficients and cytoplasmic viscosity values was identified that accurately predicts bleb formation timescales.
The study presents predictions for the Darcy permeability of the cell cortex.
The computational model provides estimates for the volume fraction of the actin cortex.

Conclusions:

Cytoplasmic viscosity and cortex-cytosol drag are critical determinants of bleb formation dynamics.
The developed model offers insights into the biophysical basis of cancer cell motility.
Predicted Darcy permeability and cortex volume fraction can inform future studies on cell migration and drug delivery.