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Figure 1 | BMC Systems Biology

Figure 1

From: Elongation, proliferation & migration differentiate endothelial cell phenotypes and determine capillary sprouting

Figure 1

Schematic of the three-dimensional model. Capillaries are represented by endothelial cells. An example of a growing network with four capillaries is shown in the gray inset. Cells are divided into segments. Each segment is represented by two nodes. Currently, cell segments are modeled as cylinders specified by a length and radius (gray inset); an activated segment's length and radius can change during a model run. The local environment surrounding a cell is defined in each voxel of the grid. In the present model, voxels contain values for the local VEGF concentration. All cell segments have the capability of sensing what is located in the 26 voxels surrounding each of its nodes. For every timestep of the current model, this sensing is restricted to the leading node of the tip cell (red) and the adjacent node (purple), shared by the tip and activated stalk segment. The local search for the highest growth factor gradient surrounding the leading node of a tip cell determines the direction the sprout tip moves.

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