Authors:
Maura Cárdenas-García
1
and
Pedro Pablo González Pérez
2
Affiliations:
1
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico
;
2
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico
Keyword(s):
In Silico Approach, Modelling and Simulation, Intercellular Interaction, Cancer Cells, Signalling Pathways.
Abstract:
Intercellular interaction allows cancer cells to preserve their malignance and through cell junctions to induce malignance in neighbouring cells and receive nutrients from them. The Wnt (wingless-related integration site) signalling pathway plays an important role in the formation of intercellular communications. In this work, we explore the complex interactions patterns of intercellular communication in cancer cells using an in silico modelling and simulation methodology developed by us. The proposed cellular signalling model, characterized by a multicompartmental nature, provides symbolic abstractions and accurate algorithms to model both intracellular and intercellular behaviours. In particular, in this work, we propose an in silico model and simulation of the formation of different communication channels, involving the Wnt signalling pathway. The final purpose of this study is to propose target molecules leading to break the communication between a cancer cell and surrounding nor
mal cells. In this way, it is not necessary to carry out long series of different in vitro experiments, but only a few, because the focus should be only on the key molecules, which saves time and money. We observed, using in silico experiments, how the inhibition of Wnt signalling pathway prevents that the cells surrounding a cancerous cell are transformed.
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