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Agent-Based Models of Wound Healing

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Book cover Complex Systems and Computational Biology Approaches to Acute Inflammation

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Abstract

Wounds can arise either from a disease process or are surgically created as part of therapy. The healing of damaged tissue is a fundamental biological process, involving a complex set of cellular and molecular components acting within a specific spatial context. Impairment or aberration of the wound healing process is a considerable source of morbidity and mortality, likely only to increase in clinical significance given an aging population. Despite considerable advances in the mechanistic knowledge of wound healing, as with all complex biological processes converting that knowledge into effective therapeutics is a substantial translational challenge. As result, wound healing has been a major focus in the field of Translational Systems Biology, and, in particular, been a subject of agent-based mechanistic computational modeling. The intuitive mapping between biological knowledge and the rules in an agent-based model (ABM), the ability of an ABM to readily represent stochastic processes, and the inherent spatial representation capability of an ABM all facilitate the utilization of this method in the practice of Translational Systems Biology. Presented herein are a series of ABMs of wound healing that demonstrate the translational potential and utility of this methodology in advancing the rational development of wound healing therapeutics.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health grants R01GM67240, P50GM53789, R33HL089082, R01HL080926, R01AI080799, R01HL76157, R01DC008290, and UO1DK072146; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research grant H133E070024; National Science Foundation grant 0830-370-V601; a Shared University Research Award from IBM, Inc.; and grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, and the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative/Department of Defense.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave, MC 5094S-032, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Jordan R. Stern M.D.

  2. Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, 3501 Fifth Ave, BST3 Suite 3076, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Cordelia Ziraldo B.S.

  3. Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, W944 Starzl Biomedical Science Tower, 200 Lothrop St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Yoram Vodovotz Ph.D.

  4. Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Ave, MC 5094 S-032, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Gary An M.D.

Authors
  1. Jordan R. Stern M.D.
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  2. Cordelia Ziraldo B.S.
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  3. Yoram Vodovotz Ph.D.
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  4. Gary An M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jordan R. Stern M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pittsburgh Inflammation and Regenerative Modeling, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Yoram Vodovotz

  2. University of Chicago Medical Center MC 5094, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Gary An

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Stern, J.R., Ziraldo, C., Vodovotz, Y., An, G. (2013). Agent-Based Models of Wound Healing. In: Vodovotz, Y., An, G. (eds) Complex Systems and Computational Biology Approaches to Acute Inflammation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8008-2_12

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