Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 10: Postersession II

BP 10.35: Poster

Monday, March 12, 2018, 17:30–19:30, Poster C

Inferring the rules of single cell behavior from video recordings of collective tumor cell systems — •Claus Metzner, Julian Übelacker, Nico Wunderling, Christoph Mark, Franziska Hoersch, Christina Hillig, and Ben Fabry — Biophysics Group, Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen, Germany

Collective effects in multicellular systems emerge from the behavior of the individual cells and their mutual interactions. Identifying the rules of this cell behavior is difficult, due to their stochastic nature. Moreover, different microscopic rules can be consistent with the same macroscopic effects. We therefore present a machine learning method that extracts a stochastic model of single cell behavior from video recordings of multicellular systems. The method is based on a Maximum Likelihood approach that analyzes the motion of individual cells relative to their immediate neighbors. In particular, we extract the average speed and directional persistence of individual cells, as well as a pair-wise, distance-dependent interaction potential between nearby cells. First, we demonstrate the feasibility of the method by extracting the rules from simulated data with known model parameters. Next, we apply the method to multicellular systems consisting of a single cell type (MDA-MB-230, or HT1080), seeded on a flat cell culture dish. Finally, we investigate mixed systems of immune cells (Natural Killer (NK) cells, T-cells) and tumor cells (K562 lymphoma and MeWo melanoma cell lines) in a collagen gel and extract the maximum distance from which the immune cells can detect their targets.