Computer Modeling Describes Gravity-Related Adaptation in Cell Cultures

Authored by Ludmil B. Alexandrov, Stoyana Alexandrova, Anny Usheva

Date Published: 2009-12-16

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008332

Sponsors: Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science Horizons Research Fellowship United States National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Questions about the changes of biological systems in response to hostile environmental factors are important but not easy to answer. Often, the traditional description with differential equations is difficult due to the overwhelming complexity of the living systems. Another way to describe complex systems is by simulating them with phenomenological models such as the well-known evolutionary agent-based model (EABM). Here we developed an EABM to simulate cell colonies as a multi-agent system that adapts to hyper-gravity in starvation conditions. In the model, the cell's heritable characteristics are generated and transferred randomly to offspring cells. After a qualitative validation of the model at normal gravity, we simulate cellular growth in hyper-gravity conditions. The obtained data are consistent with previously confirmed theoretical and experimental findings for bacterial behavior in environmental changes, including the experimental data from the microgravity Atlantis and the Hypergravity 3000 experiments. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to utilize an EABM with realistic qualitative description to examine the effects of hypergravity and starvation on complex cellular entities.

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