A multi-scale approach for modeling cell dynamics

The characterization of biological phenomena related to cell evolution and their interactions with the microenvironment often involves processes occurring across a range of spatial and temporal scales. As a result, mathematical models designed to describe cell dynamics must capture this inherent multi-scale complexity. In this seminar, we introduce a multi-scale mathematical framework based on a kinetic formulation of cell dynamics. This approach has been successfully applied to study various cellular mechanisms that are well-characterized at different scales—starting with the individual level, where stochastic mechanisms of cell reorientation can be incorporated, progressing to the kinetic level, which describes collective cell motion in response to microenvironmental stimuli, and ultimately extending to macroscopic descriptions of cellular aggregates. Focusing specifically on tumor cell migration, we will explore two applications of this framework to examine how different environmental cues influence tumor cell movement and behavior.