Optimization-Based Synthesis with Directed Cell Migration

Abstract

Collective behavior of biological agents such as herds of organisms and cells is a fundamental feature in the systems biology and in the emergence of new phenomena in the biological environ-ment. Collective cell migration under a physical or chemical cue is an example of this fundamental phenomenon where individual cell migration is driven by the collective behavior of the neighboring cells and vice versa. The goal of this research is to discover the mathematical rules of collective cell migration using experimental data and testing the predictive nature of the models in independent experimental data. Such insight is made possible in this work with the hybrid use of dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) [1] and optimal control theory. Both single and multi-cellular systems are simulated, including obstacle courses, using this framework. The results of this work show how cells collectively behave during their migration and also, opens the possibility of designing robotic cells for possible therapeutic purpose where the cell trajectory can be controlled.