Agent-Based Models Predict Emergent Behavior of Heterogeneous Cell Populations in Dynamic Microenvironments

Abstract

case studies on context, competition, and heterogeneity to demonstrate the utility of our model for gaining computational and experimental insight. Notably, there exist (i) differences in emergent behavior between colony and tissue contexts, (ii) linear, non-linear, and multimodal consequences of parameter variation on competition in simulated co-cultures, and (iii) variable impact of cell and population heterogeneity on emergent outcomes. Our extensible framework is easily modified to explore numerous biological systems, from tumor microenvironments to microbiomes.

Topics & Concepts