Multiscale modeling in disease

Curr Opin Syst Biol. 2021 Sep:27:100340. doi: 10.1016/j.coisb.2021.05.001. Epub 2021 May 8.

Abstract

Multiscale computational modeling aims to connect the complex networks of effects at different length and/or time scales. For example, these networks often include intracellular molecular signaling, crosstalk, and other interactions between neighboring cell populations, and higher levels of emergent phenomena across different regions of tissues and among collections of tissues or organs interacting with each other in the whole body. Recent applications of multiscale modeling across intracellular, cellular, and/or tissue levels are highlighted here. These models incorporated the roles of biochemical and biomechanical modulation in processes that are implicated in the mechanisms of several diseases including fibrosis, joint and bone diseases, respiratory infectious diseases, and cancers.

Keywords: Agent-based modeling; Computational modeling; Extracellular matrix; Fibrosis; Inflammation; Metastasis; Multiscale modeling; Tissue growth; Tissue remodeling.