Integrodifference master equation describing actively growing blood vessels in angiogenesis Articles uri icon

publication date

  • November 2020

start page

  • 705

end page

  • 713

issue

  • 7-8

volume

  • 21

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1565-1339

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 2191-0294

abstract

  • We study a system of particles in a two-dimensional geometry that move according to a reinforced random walk with transition probabilities dependent on the solutions of reaction-diffusion equations (RDEs) for the underlying fields. A birth process and a history-dependent killing process are also considered. This system models tumor-induced angiogenesis, the process of formation of blood vessels induced by a growth factor (GF) released by a tumor. Particles represent vessel tip cells, whose trajectories constitute the growing vessel network. New vessels appear and may fuse with existing ones during their evolution. Thus, the system is described by tracking the density of active tips, calculated as an ensemble average over many realizations of the stochastic process. Such density satisfies a novel discrete master equation with source and sink terms. The sink term is proportional to a space-dependent and suitably fitted killing coefficient. Results are illustrated studying two influential angiogenesis models.

subjects

  • Mathematics

keywords

  • angiogenesis classification; branching process; history-dependent killing process; master equation; reinforced random walk