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Single-Cell Biophysics: Measurement, Modulation, and Modeling
Poster Abstracts
55
21-POS
Board 11
Modeling Cell Blebbing with Boundary Integral Method
Chao Fang
, T.H Hui, Yuan Lin.
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Although cell blebbing has been known to play important roles in processes like cell locomotion,
spreading, and apoptosis, how the initiation and progression of such phenomenon are governed
by physical factors such as membrane tension, bilayer-cortex cohesion and intracellular pressure
remains poorly understood. In this study, we developed a computational model to describe this
process by tracking the movement of cell membrane in a viscous medium with a boundary
integral method. Simulations results showed good agreement with various experimental findings,
obtained by us or reported in the literature. In particular, we verified the existence of a critical
cortical tension for the formation of a bleb and showed how this threshold value is influenced by
the strength of bilayer-cortex adhesion and the bending rigidity of lipid membrane. A linear
relationship between the final volume of a bleb and its initial growth rate is also observed, in
consistent with previous reports. Finally, an evolution map summarizing the blebbing dynamics
was constructed where we showed that, depending on the level of intracellular pressure and the
size of the weakened cortex, a bleb can either never be formed, or be formed but grows with a
fixed width, or keeps growing in size as a result of the successive failure of adhesion between the
bilayer membrane and the cortex.