A contraction–reaction–diffusion model: Integrating biomechanics and biochemistry in cell migration

Cell migration is a fundamental biological process involved in many physiological and pathological processes. To understand how cell migration works at the whole cell level, biomechanical and biochemical models have been developed but were mainly independent of each other. In this work, we developed a mechanobiochemical model for cell migration at the whole-cell scale. In the model, mechanics of cytoskeleton contraction generates distributed forces for the cell to sense the mechanical properties of itself and its microenvironment. The mechanosensing is coupled with the signaling network of reaction–diffusion of biomolecules in the cell. The computational results show that the model can simulate cell polarization (head-to-tail formation) and shape-dependent localization of the protrusion signal. Furthermore, this dynamic model of cell migration can recapitulate durotaxis in silicon and simulate cellular morphogenesis.