understanding the melanocyte distribution in human epidermis an agent-based computational model approach理解人类表皮黑素细胞分布在一个基于主体的计算模型的方法.pdf

Understanding the Melanocyte Distribution in Human Epidermis: An Agent-Based Computational Model Approach 1 2 2,3,4 1,5 Josef Thingnes *, Timothy J. Lavelle , Eivind Hovig , Stig W. Omholt ˚ 1 Centre for Integrative Genetics (CIGENE), Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, As, Norway, 2 Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway, 3 Institute of Informatics, The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, 4 Institute of Medical Informatics, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway, 5 Centre for Integrative Genetics (CIGENE), Department ˚ of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, As, Norway Abstract The strikingly even color of human skin is maintained by the uniform distribution of melanocytes among keratinocytes in the basal layer of the human epidermis. In this work, we investigated three possible hypotheses on the mechanism by which the melanocytes and keratinocytes organize themselves to generate this pattern. We let the melanocyte migration be aided by (1) negative chemotaxis due to a substance produced by the melanocytes themselves, or (2) positive chemotaxis due to a substance produced by keratinocytes lacking direct physical contact with a melanocyte, or (3) positive chemotaxis due to a substance produced by keratinocytes in a distance-to-melanocytes dependent manner. The three hypotheses were implemented in an agent-based computational model of cellular int