On the onset of multicellular invasive behavior in hierarchical lineage: the role of inhibitory feedback and local fluctuations

Abstract

The emergence of multicellular invasive behavior is a key characteristic of various biological processes, including wound healing, development, and tissue regeneration. In this study, we develop a lattice-gas cellular automaton (LGCA) model to explore the role of inhibitory feedback in the invasive behavior of a hierarchical lineage composed of stem cells and differentiated cells. We consider both non-spatial and spatial stochastic models to investigate how spatial interactions influence invasion dynamics. Our findings suggest that inhibitory feedback from differentiated cells significantly impacts the invasive potential of stem cells. In addition, local fluctuations induce unstable fronts that move with relatively low speed. Finally, we explore the implications of our work for understanding the regulation of multicellular dynamics in various pathophysiological contexts.