OSMOTIC ENGINE

In order for the body to carry out pathological processes, cells must be able to migrate to all areas of the body.  Cells migrate via channels created by space between the connective tissue and the epithelium as well as within 3D extracellular matrices.  Most research conducted on the migration of cells only accounts for 2D substrates, such as monocytes traveling through the bloodstream to other tissues to differentiate into macrophages, or neutrophils traveling to a site of infection.  However, these 2D models do not account for physiological tissue environment, specifically how tumor cells migrate through these 3D extracellular matrices.  Our transport problem will be looking at how cancer cells can induce metastasis by osmosis in the cell, and thus can move independently of traditional cell movement, which includes both actin and myosin dependency.  Using CompuCell 3D, we created a simulation in order to further model and understand this new phenomenon.