Modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium

The hair follicle system represents a tractable model for the study of stem cell behaviour in regenerative adult epithelial tissue. However, although there are numerous spatial scales of observation (molecular, cellular, follicle and multi follicle), it is not yet clear what mechanisms underpin the...

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Үндсэн зохиолчид: Murray, P, Maini, P, Plikus, M, Chuong, C, Baker, R
Формат: Journal article
Хэл сонгох:English
Хэвлэсэн: Public Library of Science 2012
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author Murray, P
Maini, P
Plikus, M
Chuong, C
Baker, R
author_facet Murray, P
Maini, P
Plikus, M
Chuong, C
Baker, R
author_sort Murray, P
collection OXFORD
description The hair follicle system represents a tractable model for the study of stem cell behaviour in regenerative adult epithelial tissue. However, although there are numerous spatial scales of observation (molecular, cellular, follicle and multi follicle), it is not yet clear what mechanisms underpin the follicle growth cycle. In this study we seek to address this problem by describing how the growth dynamics of a large population of follicles can be treated as a classical excitable medium. Defining caricature interactions at the molecular scale and treating a single follicle as a functional unit, a minimal model is proposed in which the follicle growth cycle is an emergent phenomenon. Expressions are derived, in terms of parameters representing molecular regulation, for the time spent in the different functional phases of the cycle, a formalism that allows the model to be directly compared with a previous cellular automaton model and experimental measurements made at the single follicle scale. A multi follicle model is constructed and numerical simulations are used to demonstrate excellent qualitative agreement with a range of experimental observations. Notably, the excitable medium equations exhibit a wider family of solutions than the previous work and we demonstrate how parameter changes representing altered molecular regulation can explain perturbed patterns in Wnt over-expression and BMP down-regulation mouse models. Further experimental scenarios that could be used to test the fundamental premise of the model are suggested. The key conclusion from our work is that positive and negative regulatory interactions between activators and inhibitors can give rise to a range of experimentally observed phenomena at the follicle and multi follicle spatial scales and, as such, could represent a core mechanism underlying hair follicle growth.
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spelling oxford-uuid:af47cb3a-08c8-4820-ada2-b1037384ca8d2022-03-27T03:48:22ZModelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable mediumJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:af47cb3a-08c8-4820-ada2-b1037384ca8dEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordPublic Library of Science2012Murray, PMaini, PPlikus, MChuong, CBaker, RThe hair follicle system represents a tractable model for the study of stem cell behaviour in regenerative adult epithelial tissue. However, although there are numerous spatial scales of observation (molecular, cellular, follicle and multi follicle), it is not yet clear what mechanisms underpin the follicle growth cycle. In this study we seek to address this problem by describing how the growth dynamics of a large population of follicles can be treated as a classical excitable medium. Defining caricature interactions at the molecular scale and treating a single follicle as a functional unit, a minimal model is proposed in which the follicle growth cycle is an emergent phenomenon. Expressions are derived, in terms of parameters representing molecular regulation, for the time spent in the different functional phases of the cycle, a formalism that allows the model to be directly compared with a previous cellular automaton model and experimental measurements made at the single follicle scale. A multi follicle model is constructed and numerical simulations are used to demonstrate excellent qualitative agreement with a range of experimental observations. Notably, the excitable medium equations exhibit a wider family of solutions than the previous work and we demonstrate how parameter changes representing altered molecular regulation can explain perturbed patterns in Wnt over-expression and BMP down-regulation mouse models. Further experimental scenarios that could be used to test the fundamental premise of the model are suggested. The key conclusion from our work is that positive and negative regulatory interactions between activators and inhibitors can give rise to a range of experimentally observed phenomena at the follicle and multi follicle spatial scales and, as such, could represent a core mechanism underlying hair follicle growth.
spellingShingle Murray, P
Maini, P
Plikus, M
Chuong, C
Baker, R
Modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium
title Modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium
title_full Modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium
title_fullStr Modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium
title_full_unstemmed Modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium
title_short Modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium
title_sort modelling hair follicle growth dynamics as an excitable medium
work_keys_str_mv AT murrayp modellinghairfolliclegrowthdynamicsasanexcitablemedium
AT mainip modellinghairfolliclegrowthdynamicsasanexcitablemedium
AT plikusm modellinghairfolliclegrowthdynamicsasanexcitablemedium
AT chuongc modellinghairfolliclegrowthdynamicsasanexcitablemedium
AT bakerr modellinghairfolliclegrowthdynamicsasanexcitablemedium