A model for cell density effect on stress fiber alignment and collective directional migration

In this study, numerical simulation of collective cell migration is presented in order to mimic the group migration of endothelial cells subjected to the concentration gradients of a biochemical factor. The developed 2D model incorporates basic elements of the cell, including both the cell membrane and the cell cytoskeleton, based on a viscoelastic cell mechanic model. Various cell processes--including cell random walk, cell-cell interactions, cell chemotaxis, and cellular cytoskeleton rearrangements--are considered and analyzed in our developed model. After validating the model by using available experimental data, the model is used to investigate various important parameters during collective cell chemotaxis, such as cell density, cytoskeleton organization, stress fiber reorientations, and intracellular forces. The results suggest that increasing the cell density causes the cell-cell interactions to affect the orientation of stress fibers throughout the cytoskeleton and makes the stress fibers more aligned in the direction of the imposed concentration gradient. This improved alignment of the stress fibers correlates with the intensification of the intracellular forces transferred in the gradient direction; this improves the cell group migration. Comparison of the obtained results with available experimental observations of collective chemotaxis of endothelial cells shows an interesting agreement.