Regensburg 2016 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 52: Posters - Multi-Cellular Systems
BP 52.4: Poster
Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 17:00–19:00, Poster C
Simulating multicellular homeostasis with a cell-based discrete receptor dynamics model: the non-mutational origin of cancer and aging — •Yuting Lou1 and Yu Chen2 — 1The University of Tokyo, Japan — 2The University of Tokyo, Japan
The purpose of the study is to investigate the multicellular homeostasis in epithelial tissues over very large timescales. An agent-based model is constructed based on the receptor dynamics of IBCell model proposed by Rejniak, et al. Instead of observing the multicellular architectural morphologies, the diversity of homeostatic states is quantitatively analyzed through a substantial number of simulations by measuring three new order parameters, the phenotypic population structure, the average proliferation age and the relaxation time to stable homeostasis. Nearby the interfaces of distinct homeostatic phases in 3D phase diagrams of the three order parameters, intermediate quasi-stable phases of slow dynamics that features quasi-stability with a large spectrum of relaxation timescales are found. A further exploration on the static and dynamic correlations among the three order parameters reveals that the quasi-stable phases evolve towards two terminations, tumorigenesis and degeneration, which are respectively accompanied by rejuvenation and aging. With the exclusion of the environmental impact and the mutational strategies, the results imply that cancer and aging may share the non-mutational origin in the intrinsic slow dynamics of the multicellular systems and the two processes are probably two absorbing phase transitions with distinct critical exponents.