3-D modelling of cell signalling and motility of tumour cells, epithelial tissues and zebrafish morphogenesis.

化学和机械细胞相互作用贯穿生物体的整个生命周期，并推动受精卵向成熟成体的转变。理解这一复杂转变的有效方法是开发和使用这些相互作用的数学模型和计算机模拟。我建议使用一个基于3-D单个细胞的模型(ICBM)来研究使用三个不同的模型系统的一些基本的相互作用。每项研究都将回答与正在研究的特定模型系统有关的问题，但综合起来，这些研究将增进我们对细胞信号、细胞分化和细胞黏附如何在发育过程中共同作用以形成成熟结构的了解。此外，这种洞察力扩大了该模型的适用性，以更好地理解其他生物系统。

Chemical and mechanical cell interactions operate throughout the lifespan of an organism and drive the transformation of a fertilized egg to a mature adult. An effective approach to understanding this complex transformation is through the development and use of mathematical models and computer simulations of these interactions. I propose to use a 3-D individual cell based model (ICBM) to study some of these basic interactions using three different model systems. Each study will answer questions related to the particular model system being investigated, but taken together, the research will advance our knowledge of how cell signaling, cell differentiation and cell adhesion work together during developmental processes to form mature structures. Moreover, such insights expand the applicability of the model to better understand other biological systems.