Simulating the movement of model biological cells could help predict cell behaviour, say researchers in the US.

Anna Balazs and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh used computer modelling to simulate the movement of fluid-filled elastic microcapsules over a surface. They say the capsules serve as simple models for biological cells. According to Balazs, the interactions between capsules, and whether the capsules will disperse or aggregate, not only depend on the rigidity of the capsules themselves, but also on the nature of the surface on which they are moving. 

Carson Meredith, polymer and materials scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, US, said Balazs's findings could help predict how cells and even drug capsules behave. 'The combined mechanical-hydrodynamic model achieves an elegant balance between rigor and simplicity, and applications could include a better way to predict how drug capsules behave in lung membranes, or how blood cells respond to arterial hardening,' said Meredith. 

Balazs aims to 'harness the microcapsules as microreactors to specified locations on a surface in order to carry out certain analyses or enable an exchange of chemicals between the reactors.' 

Tanya Smekal