Conveners
The multiphase approach to tissue modelling: Applications in development and disease
- Michael Watson (University of Sydney)
- Helen Byrne (University of Oxford)
Description
Multiphase models originated in fluid dynamics, but over many years they have also been applied to the study of biological tissues. The appeal of the multiphase approach in a biological context is that it provides a natural framework to account for mechanical interactions between tissue constituents such as cells and extracellular matrix. This is an important consideration because mechanical effects often play a crucial role in determining both cell function and tissue evolution during development and disease. Much of the research in multiphase modelling over the last 20 years has focused on tumour growth, but recent work has seen multiphase models applied in new areas such as tissue engineering and atherosclerosis. This minisymposium aims to bring together researchers with a wide range of interests to showcase the insights that the multiphase approach can provide, and encourage the sharing of ideas to tackle future challenges in the field.
Atherosclerotic plaque growth is characterised by a process of chronic, non-resolving inflammation that leads to the accumulation of cellular debris and extracellular fat in the inner artery wall. In advanced plaques, smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are recruited from deeper in the artery wall to synthesise a fibrous tissue cap that sequesters the thrombogenic plaque content from the bloodstream....
Tissue engineering aims to grow artificial tissues to replace those that have been damaged through age, trauma or disease. A recent approach to engineer artificial cartilage involves seeding cells within a scaffold consisting of an interconnected three dimensional printed lattice of polymer fibres combined with a cast or printed hydrogel, and subjecting the construct (cell-seeded scaffold) to...
Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are expected to survive only 14 months and die due to the pressure that the tumour builds in the brain as well as the formation of peritumoural edema (PTE). With the view to investigating the early stages of brain tumour development, and how it impacts the healthy brain environment, we develop a mechanistic model of GBM onset. The model is...
Peripheral nerve damage afflicts 1 M people p.a. in Europe and the USA [1]. In the most severe cases, patients experience major loss of function. The gold-standard treatment for patients with severe cases is surgery using a graft based on a healthy section of nerve taken from the patient, however, only 50% of patients experience functional recovery [2].
After a nerve is severed, the distal...
