[MS08] Movement and growth: modeling and control of cell behaviors from the individual to the population scales

[MS08-03] Modeling heterogeneous PIEZO1 activity in collective keratinocyte migration

*Jinghao Chen^1,2, John Lowengrub², Medha Pathak² (1. Kyoto University (Japan), 2. University of California, Irvine (United States of America))

Keywords:

PIEZO1,Cell migration,Wound healing

During wound reepithelialization, the mechanically-activated ion channel PIEZO1 has been identified as an inhibitory factor in healing, regulating wound edge retraction and disrupting coordinated directionality in the collective migration of keratinocytes. PIEZO1 activity is heterogeneous among cells, but the impact of mixtures with varying PIEZO1 levels on wound healing remains poorly understood. In this study, we developed an integrative two-dimensional mathematical model to investigate the wound closure dynamics of mixtures containing two distinct cell types. Each cell type is governed by its own set of equations and parameters, reflecting its specific PIEZO1 activity level and interacting through mechanisms including cell-cell adhesion, volume-filling effects, and wound edge retraction. Simulations reveal that cells with higher PIEZO1 activity are generally underrepresented at the wound edge, correlating with increased retraction and negative curvature. Furthermore, mixing mutually repulsive cells accelerates wound closure more effectively than homogeneous populations while preserving wound shape regularity.