CompuCell3D Simulations Reproduce Mesenchymal Cell Migration on Flat Substrates.

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Computational Biology
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Mesenchymal cell crawling is vital for development, tissue function, and disease.
• Predictive simulations of cell crawling have broad applications but require low computational cost.
• Existing models lack efficient simulation of 3D mesenchymal cell crawling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a computationally tractable 3D model for simulating mesenchymal cell crawling on a 2D substrate.
• To validate the model against experimental observations of cell migration dynamics.
• To enable quantitative comparisons between simulated and experimental cell motility.

Main Methods:

• Developed a 3D computational model implemented in CompuCell3D.
• Analyzed mean-squared displacement (MSD) curves and velocity autocorrelation functions.
• Defined time- and length scales for comparing simulation and experimental data.

Main Results:

• Simulations reproduced three experimentally observed temporal regimes of cell migration (fast diffusion, ballistic motion, slow diffusion).
• The model successfully replicated spontaneous symmetry breaking and cell-motion reorientation.
• Low computational cost allows integration into multiscale virtual-tissue simulations.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3D model provides a computationally efficient approach to simulate mesenchymal cell crawling.
• Simulation results support the link between short-time actomyosin dynamics and long-time cell motility.
• The model's success suggests potential for future applications in chemotaxis, 3D matrix migration, and collective cell motion.