205 citations · 712 across the 18 of their papers we have counts for
18 papers
3D hybrid cellular Potts model with a discrete deformable fiber network: modeling cell contraction and extracellular matrix remodeling
Koen A. E. Keijzer, Roeland M. H. Merks
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a fibrous and dynamic network that plays a critical role in development, homeostasis, and disease. Cells both respond to and remodel the ECM, enga…
Deformability and collision-induced reorientation enhance cell topotaxis in dense microenvironments
Leonie van Steijn, Joeri A. J. Wondergem, Koen Schakenraad +2
In vivo, cells navigate through complex environments filled with obstacles. Recently, the term 'topotaxis' has been introduced for navigation along topographic cues such as obstacl…
Scaling Relations for Auxin Waves
Timothy E. Faver, Hermen Jan Hupkes, Roeland M. H. Merks +1
We analyze an 'up-the-gradient' model for the formation of transport channels of the phytohormone auxin, through auxin-mediated polarization of the PIN1 auxin transporter. We show…
Chiral stresses in nematic cell monolayers
Ludwig A. Hoffmann, Koen Schakenraad, Roeland M. H. Merks +1
Recent experiments on monolayers of spindle-like cells plated on adhesive stripe-shaped domains have provided a convincing demonstration that certain types of collective phenomena…
Topotaxis of active Brownian particles
Koen Schakenraad, Linda Ravazzano, Niladri Sarkar +3
Recent experimental studies have demonstrated that cellular motion can be directed by topographical gradients, such as those resulting from spatial variations in the features of a…
Cell Shape and Durotaxis Follow from Mechanical Cell-Substrate Reciprocity and Focal Adhesion Dynamics: A Unifying Mathematical Model
Elisabeth G. Rens, Roeland M. H. Merks
Many animal cells change their shape depending on the stiffness of the substrate on which they are cultured: they assume small, rounded shapes in soft ECMs, they elongate within st…
Mechanical interplay between cell shape and actin cytoskeleton organization
Koen Schakenraad, Jeremy Ernst, Wim Pomp +4
We investigate the mechanical interplay between the spatial organization of the actin cytoskeleton and the shape of animal cells adhering on micropillar arrays. Using a combination…
Adapting a plant tissue model to animal development: introducing cell sliding into VirtualLeaf
Henri B. Wolff, Lance A. Davidson, Roeland M. H. Merks
Cell-based, mathematical modeling of collective cell behavior has become a prominent tool in developmental biology. Cell-based models represent individual cells as single particles…
Blood Vessel Tortuosity Selects against Evolution of Agressive Tumor Cells in Confined Tissue Environments: a Modeling Approach
András Szabó, Roeland M. H. Merks
Cancer is a disease of cellular regulation, often initiated by genetic mutation within cells, and leading to a heterogeneous cell population within tissues. In the competition for…
Cytoskeletal Anisotropy Controls Geometry and Forces of Adherent Cells
Wim Pomp, Koen Schakenraad, Hayri E. Balcioğlu +5
We investigate the geometrical and mechanical properties of adherent cells characterized by a highly anisotropic actin cytoskeleton. Using a combination of theoretical work and exp…
Cell contractility facilitates alignment of cells and tissues to static uniaxial stretch
Elisabeth G. Rens, Roeland M. H. Merks
During animal development and homeostasis, the structure of tissues, including muscles, blood vessels and connective tissues adapts to mechanical strains in the extracellular matri…
Particle-based simulation of ellipse-shaped particle aggregation as a model for vascular network formation
Dimitrios Palachanis, András Szabó, Roeland M. H. Merks
Computational modelling is helpful for elucidating the cellular mechanisms driving biological morphogenesis. Previous simulation studies of blood vessel growth based on the Cellula…
A global sensitivity analysis approach for morphogenesis models
Sonja E. M. Boas, Maria I. Navarro Jimenez, Roeland M. H. Merks +1
Morphogenesis is a developmental process in which cells organize into shapes and patterns. Complex, multi-factorial models are commonly used to study morphogenesis. It is difficult…
Tip cell overtaking occurs as a side effect of sprouting in computational models of angiogenesis
Sonja E. M. Boas, Roeland M. H. Merks
During angiogenesis, endothelial cells compete for the tip position during angiogenesis: a phenomenon named tip cell overtaking. It is still unclear to what extent tip cell overtak…
Computational Screening of Tip and Stalk Cell Behavior Proposes a Role for Apelin Signaling in Sprout Progression
Margriet M. Palm, Marchien G. Dallinga, Erik van Dijk +3
Angiogenesis involves the formation of new blood vessels by sprouting or splitting of existing blood vessels. During sprouting, a highly motile type of endothelial cell, called the…
Mechanical cell-matrix feedback explains pairwise and collective endothelial cell behavior in vitro
René F. M. van Oers, Elisabeth G. Rens, Danielle J. LaValley +2
In vitro cultures of endothelial cells are a widely used model system of the collective behavior of endothelial cells during vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. When seeded in an extr…
Vascular networks due to dynamically arrested crystalline ordering of elongated cells
Margriet M. Palm, Roeland M. H. Merks
Recent experimental and theoretical studies suggest that crystallization and glass-like solidification are useful analogies for understanding cell ordering in confluent biological…
Contact-inhibited chemotaxis in de novo and sprouting blood-vessel growth
Roeland M. H. Merks, Erica D. Perryn, Abbas Shirinifard +1
Blood vessels form either when dispersed endothelial cells (the cells lining the inner walls of fully-formed blood vessels) organize into a vessel network (vasculogenesis), or by s…