Premium
Simulating T‐cell motility in the lymph node paracortex with a packed lattice geometry
Author(s) -
Bogle Gib,
Dunbar P Rod
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1038/icb.2008.60
Subject(s) - lattice (music) , motility , random walk , population , biological system , lymph node , simulation , physics , statistical physics , mechanics , geometry , computer science , mathematics , biology , statistics , microbiology and biotechnology , acoustics , demography , sociology , immunology
Agent‐based simulation modelling of T‐cell trafficking, activation and proliferation in the lymph node paracortex requires a model for cell motility. Such a model must be able to reproduce the observed random‐walk behaviour of T cells, while accommodating large numbers of tightly packed cells, and must be computationally efficient. We report the development of a motility model, based on a three‐dimensional lattice geometry, that meets these objectives. Cells make discrete jumps between neighbouring lattice sites in directions that are randomly determined from specified discrete probability distributions, which are defined by a small number of parameters. It is shown that the main characteristics of the random motion of T cells as typically observed in vivo can be reproduced by suitable specification of model parameters. The model is computationally highly efficient and provides a suitable engine for a model capable of simulating the full T‐cell population of the paracortex.