Modeling the extracellular matrix in cell migration and morphogenesis: a guide for the curious biologist

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a highly complex structure through which biochemical and mechanical signals are transmitted. In processes of cell migration, the ECM also acts as a scaffold, providing structural support to cells as well as points of potential attachment. Although the ECM is a well-studied structure, its role in many biological processes remains difficult to investigate comprehensively due to its complexity and structural variation within an organism. In tandem with experiments, mathematical models are helpful in refining and testing hypotheses, generating predictions, and exploring conditions outside the scope of experiments. Such models can be combined and calibrated with in vivo and in vitro data to identify critical cell-ECM interactions that drive developmental and homeostatic processes, or the progression of diseases. In this review, we focus on mathematical and computational models of the ECM in processes such as cell migration including cancer metastasis, and in tissue structure and morphogenesis. By highlighting the predictive power of these models, we aim to help bridge the gap between experimental and computational approaches to studying the ECM and to provide guidance on selecting an appropriate model framework to complement corresponding experimental studies.

Comparison of dilute and nondilute osmotic equilibrium models for erythrocytes

Successful cryopreservation requires the addition of cryoprotective agents (CPAs). The addition of permeating CPAs, such as glycerol, is associated with some risk to the cells and tissues. These risks are both related to the CPA themselves (CPA toxicity) and to the volume response of the cell (osmotic damage). To minimize the potential for damage during cryopreservation, mathematical models are often employed to understand the interactions between protocols and cell volume responses. In the literature, this volume response is usually captured using ideal and dilute approximations of chemical potential and osmolality, an approach that has been called into question for cells in high concentrations of CPAs. To address this, the relevance of non-ideal and non-dilute models has been explored in a number of cell types in the presence of permeating CPAs. However, it has not been explored in erythrocytes, which have a cytosolic hemoglobin content of more than 20% by volume and are cryopreserved in 40% glycerol. Because hemoglobin has been suggested to be a highly non-ideal solute, if the non-ideal and non-dilute transport model is relevant to any cells, it should be relevant to erythrocytes. Here we investigate the use, and accuracy, of both the dilute and non-dilute models in predicting cell volume changes during CPA equilibration in erythrocytes, and demonstrate that using published values for the non-ideal and non-dilute model, applied to erythrocytes, leads to model predictions inconsistent with experimental data, whereas dilute approximations align well with experimental data.

General tissue mass transfer model for cryopreservation applications

Successful cryopreservation of complex specimens, such as tissues and organs, would greatly benefit both the medical and scientific research fields. Vitrification is one of the most promising techniques for complex specimen cryopreservation, but toxicity remains a major challenge because of the high concentration of cryoprotectants (CPAs) needed to vitrify. Our group has approached this problem using mathematical optimization to design less toxic CPA equilibration methods for cells. To extend this approach to tissues, an appropriate mass transfer model is required. Fick's law is commonly used, but this simple modeling framework does not account for the complexity of mass transfer in tissues, such as the effects of fixed charges, tissue size changes, and the interplay between cell membrane transport and transport through the extracellular fluid. Here, we propose a general model for mass transfer in tissues that accounts for all of these phenomena. To create this model, we augmented a previously published acellular model of mass transfer in articular cartilage to account for the effects of cells. We show that the model can accurately predict changes in CPA concentration and tissue size for both articular cartilage and pancreatic islets, tissue types with vastly different properties.

805 A Dangerous Wait: The Impact of Prolonged Waiting Times in Endocrine Surgery

Aim

In Northern Ireland on 31/12/19 90,514 patients were awaiting admission/day case procedure. The 2019/2020 Ministerial waiting time target states that by March 2020, 55% of patients should not wait longer than 13 weeks for inpatient/day case treatment, and no patient should wait longer than 52 weeks. This audit investigates the impact of long waiting times in endocrine surgery and how they impact patient safety.

Method

Data was collected from the endocrine surgery waiting list in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, up to 6/2/20. Number of days spent on the waiting list, disease complications and the number of days before they occurred were collated.

Results

118 patients were awaiting endocrine surgery. The average waiting time was 533 days. 21 patients experience 27 complications related to their endocrine disease whilst waiting for surgery. The average duration before complications was 490 days; 4 required admission, 11 required medical intervention and 3 required a surgical intervention.

Conclusions

The average waiting time for endocrine surgery is greater than 52 weeks. In Northern Ireland no one should be waiting more than 52 weeks. The length of the waiting list has resulted in 1 in 5 experiencing complications and prolonged suffering from under-treated disease. This is a significant patient safety concern. Urgent action to address waiting lists is required and the disruption caused by COVID-19 should be used as a catalyst for reform.

Cell-Scale Degradation of Peritumoural Extracellular Matrix Fibre Network and Its Role Within Tissue-Scale Cancer Invasion

Local cancer invasion of tissue is a complex, multiscale process which plays an essential role in tumour progression. During the complex interaction between cancer cell population and the extracellular matrix (ECM), of key importance is the role played by both bulk two-scale dynamics of ECM fibres within collective movement of the tumour cells and the multiscale leading edge dynamics driven by proteolytic activity of the matrix-degrading enzymes (MDEs) that are secreted by the cancer cells. As these two multiscale subsystems share and contribute to the same tumour macro-dynamics, in this work we develop further the model introduced in Shuttleworth and Trucu (Bull Math Biol 81:2176–2219, 2019. 10.1007/s11538-019-00598-w) by exploring a new aspect of their interaction that occurs at the cell scale. Specifically, here we will focus on understanding the cell-scale cross talk between the micro-scale parts of these two multiscale subsystems which get to interact directly in the peritumoural region, with immediate consequences both for MDE micro-dynamics occurring at the leading edge of the tumour and for the cell-scale rearrangement of the naturally oriented ECM fibres in the peritumoural region, ultimately influencing the way tumour progresses in the surrounding tissue. To that end, we will propose a new modelling that captures the ECM fibres degradation not only at macro-scale in the bulk of the tumour but also explicitly in the micro-scale neighbourhood of the tumour interface as a consequence of the interactions with molecular fluxes of MDEs that exercise their spatial dynamics at the invasive edge of the tumour.

Multiscale dynamics of a heterotypic cancer cell population within a fibrous extracellular matrix

Local cancer cell invasion is a complex process involving many cellular and tissue interactions and is an important prerequisite for metastatic spread, the main cause of cancer related deaths. As a tumour increases in malignancy, the cancer cells adopt the ability to mutate into secondary cell subpopulations giving rise to a heterogeneous tumour. This new cell subpopulation often carries higher invasive abilities and permits a quicker spread of the tumour. Building upon the recent multiscale modelling framework for cancer invasion within a fibrous ECM introduced in Shuttleworth and Trucu, (2019), in this paper we consider the process of local invasion by a heterotypic tumour consisting of two cancer cell populations mixed with a two-phase ECM. To that end, we address the double feedback link between the tissue-scale cancer dynamics and the cell-scale molecular processes through the development of a two-part modelling framework that crucially incorporates the multiscale dynamic redistribution of oriented fibres occurring within a two-phase extra-cellular matrix and combines this with the multiscale leading edge dynamics exploring key matrix-degrading enzymes molecular processes along the tumour interface that drive the movement of the cancer boundary. The modelling framework will be accompanied by computational results that explore the effects of the underlying fibre network on the overall pattern of cancer invasion.

Homologous prostatic fluid added to frozen–thawed dog spermatozoa prior to intravaginal insemination of bitches resulted in better fertility than albumin-free TALP

The aim of this study was to determine whether canine prostatic fluid has intrinsic effects resulting in higher fertility than albumin-free Tyrode's albumin lactate pyruvate (afTALP) when added to thawed semen prior to intravaginal insemination. Twenty-four German shepherd bitches were inseminated intravaginally with frozen-thawed spermatozoa to which either homologous prostatic fluid (Group P; 12 bitches) or afTALP (Group T; 12 bitches) was added to give a final insemination volume of 7mL. Each bitch was inseminated daily starting when the vaginal folds first became angular and continuing until the day before a diestrus vaginal smear was first seen. Bitches were spayed about 3 weeks after the onset of diestrus and the number of corpora lutea and the number of conceptuses counted. Group P and Group T bitches were, respectively, inseminated 5.3+/-1.0 and 5.8+/-2.1 times with 48.9+/-8.6 and 50.4+/-8.3 million progressively motile spermatozoa per insemination. Eight Group P bitches and 10 Group T bitches conceived with totals of 76 and 45 conceptuses and 126 and 117 corpora lutea, respectively. Odds of conception were taken as the number of conceptuses divided by (the number of corpora lutea minus the number of conceptuses). After adjustment for the number of progressively motile spermatozoa per day and the random effect of bitch, the addition of prostatic fluid resulted in an increased odds of conception compared to afTALP. This effect decreased as the number of progressively motile spermatozoa per day increased.

"Essential noise" - enhancing variability of informational constraints benefits movement control: a comment on Waddington and Adams (2003)

This commentary proposes a dynamical systems perspective to re-interpret data from a group of international soccer players demonstrating that wearing textured insoles in soccer boots enhanced tactile information from the sole of the foot and increased movement discrimination capacity in ankle inversion sensitivity tests to levels similar to those in barefoot conditions. Theoretical arguments on the functional role of variability induced in the sensorimotor system by textured insoles, acting as a form of "essential noise" to enhance the accuracy of foot positioning are presented. It seems that, far from interfering with motor performance, variability can actually enhance perception of information to support motor performance. The addition of intermittent, intermediate levels of noise in a perceptual motor context may benefit performers by helping them to pick up information signals from background structure. Movement system variability is conceived as noise induced resonance benefiting the pick up of information to regulate behaviour. Variability can be functional in practical programmes to offset negative effects of losses in sensory sensitivity through ageing, disease, illness, or injury.

Human isolates of Staphylococcus caprae: association with bone and joint infections

Staphylococcus caprae is a coagulase-negative, DNase-positive member of the genus Staphylococcus usually associated with goats, but since 1991 a few laboratories have reported isolating the organism from human clinical specimens. We report on the isolation of 14 strains from human specimens and note that 10 strains were obtained from patients with bone and joint infections. Nine of the 10 infections started with traumatic fractures, and the other was a case of mastoiditis. Seven of these 10 infections were in patients with orthopedic prostheses, which appears to be a risk factor. Three of the 14 strains were from transplant patients. For three of the patients, S. caprae was the only organism isolated. S. caprae may be misidentified because it is not represented in the current MicroScan or Vitek identification systems which are in use in many laboratories, but the organism can be differentiated by a few biochemical tests. S. caprae produces positive results for DNase, pyrrolidonyl aminopeptidase, and acid production from mannitol and maltose; it produces negative results for ornithine decarboxylase and tube coagulase.

Fatty acid characterization of rapidly growing pathogenic aerobic actinomycetes as a means of identification

The fatty acid compositions of 39 type strains and 529 clinical or reference strains of pathogenic aerobic actinomycetes were analyzed after standardized culture by using the Microbial Identification System (MIS). Library entries for each type strain were created by using the MIS Library Generation Software, and the fatty acid profiles of clinical and reference strains were compared to these library entries. The bacteria separated into two large groups based upon major amounts of branched-chain or of saturated or monounsaturated straight-chain fatty acids. Identification of isolates was possible by using only the type strains for comparison, but fatty acid heterogeneity occurred within most species.

Identification of staphylococci with a self-educating system using fatty acid analysis and biochemical tests

We characterized all of the 35 aerobic taxa of the genus Staphylococcus by using an objective, self-learning system combining both whole-cell fatty acid (FA) analysis and the results of 35 biochemical tests. Isolates were compared with the type strain for each taxon to generate an FA profile library and a biochemical table of test responses. Isolates were accepted into the system if they had a similarity index of > or = 0.6 for a taxon within the FA profile library and if they were identified as the same taxon by a computer program using a probability matrix constructed from the biochemical data. These stringent criteria led to acceptance of 1,117 strains assigned to legitimate taxa. Additional FA groups were assembled from selected strains that did not meet the inclusion criteria based on the type strains and were added to the system as separate entries. Currently, 1,512 isolates have bee accepted into the system. This approach has resulted in a comprehensive table of biochemical test results and a FA profile library, which together provide a practical system for valid identifications.

Staphylococcus lugdunensis endocarditis

Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a recently described coagulase-negative species which has been associated with human infections, including infective endocarditis. A case of native valve endocarditis caused by this organism is described. The initial laboratory detection of S. lugdunensis is facilitated by a positive test for ornithine decarboxylase. The identification of such isolates should not cause difficulty unless undue reliance is placed upon a small number of tests.

Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Clostridium difficile

The antimicrobial susceptibilities of 78 strains of Clostridium difficile isolated from patients with and without gastrointestinal symptoms were determined and compared. Strains from patients with symptoms were more likely to show resistance to antibiotics. The antimicrobial susceptibilities of toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains were found to be similar.

Source and significance of 5-nucleotidase in synovial fluid

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Volume Change Measurements in the Study of Rubber-Filler Interactions

A new type of measurement using an extension-dilatometer is described and used in an attempt to provide a more adequate understanding of the mechanism of reinforcement. A description of the dilatometer is given together with some of the results obtained. These results are discussed in the light of a recently proposed mechanism of reinforcement.