Transport of breast cancer cells in micro-vessel*

During cancer metastasis, tumor cells disseminate from the primary tumor to other parts of the human body by exploiting the blood or lymphatic circulatory systems. This process has been studied by a number of numerical simulations. However, most computational models use an idealized spherical shape as the geometrical model for cancer cells without considering the presence of the nucleus, cytosol and cytoskeleton, which are essential to investigate the mechanical and migratory behaviors. In this work, we constructed a realistic model of a cancer cell based on confocal microscopy images where these structures are visualized with immunflourescence. The transport of the cancer cell is simulated using a fluid-structure interaction approach, which couples the dynamics of the cancer cell in fluid flows. Dissipative Particle Dynamics is used to model the cell dynamics (membrane, nucleus and cytosol). The cytoskeleton components (actin filament, intermediate filament and microtubes) are modeled using non-linear Worm-Like Chain springs. The extracellular flow is modeled with the Immersed Boundary Method, which allows the simulation of fluid flows in complex vasculatures. We will report and compare the history of cancer cell dynamics as it traverses along the fluid flows of vasculatures.