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Mechano-transduction in tumour growth modelling

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Abstract

The evolution of biological systems is strongly influenced by physical factors, such as applied forces, geometry or the stiffness of the micro-environment. Mechanical changes are particularly important in solid tumour development, as altered stromal-epithelial interactions can provoke a persistent increase in cytoskeletal tension, driving the gene expression of a malignant phenotype. In this work, we propose a novel multi-scale treatment of mechano-transduction in cancer growth. The avascular tumour is modelled as an expanding elastic spheroid, whilst growth may occur both as a volume increase and as a mass production within a cell rim. Considering the physical constraints of an outer healthy tissue, we derive the thermo-dynamical requirements for coupling growth rate, solid stress and diffusing biomolecules inside a heterogeneous tumour. The theoretical predictions successfully reproduce the stress-dependent growth curves observed by in vitro experiments on multicellular spheroids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Jean le Rond d’Alembert, UMR CNRS 7190, Universitè Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu, Case 162, 75005, Paris, France

    P. Ciarletta & G. A. Maugin

  2. MOX Laboratory, Dipartimento di Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy

    D. Ambrosi

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Politecnico di Torino, c.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10123, Torino, Italy

    L. Preziosi

  4. Fondazione CEN, Centro Europeo di Nanomedicina, piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy

    P. Ciarletta

Authors
  1. P. Ciarletta
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  2. D. Ambrosi
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  3. G. A. Maugin
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  4. L. Preziosi
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Correspondence to P. Ciarletta.

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Ciarletta, P., Ambrosi, D., Maugin, G.A. et al. Mechano-transduction in tumour growth modelling. Eur. Phys. J. E 36, 23 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2013-13023-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2013-13023-2

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