Deformation of cancer cells under shear flows

Cancer metastasis leads to the transport and widespread of malignant cells from the primary tumor to other parts of the body by exploiting body fluids (lymphatic fluid, bloodstream, and interstitial fluid). In this work, we investigate the dynamics of a single cancer cell in fluid flow under the impact of hydrodynamic force in vasculature. Our numerical model is based on a hybrid continuum-particle approach. The cancer cell model includes the cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm and the cytoskeleton. The Dissipative Particle Dynamics method was employed to simulate the mechanical components. The blood plasma is modeled as a Newtonian incompressible fluid. A Fluid-Structure Interaction coupling, leveraging the Immersed Boundary Method is developed to simulate the cell's response to flow dynamics. Our computational model allows an accurate estimation of fluid shear stresses on the cell's surface and resolves the local cellular dynamics while providing large-scale flow patterns in the vasculature. Our results suggest that the mechanical response of the cancer cell is highly sensitive to shear stresses. Our computational framework provides new capabilities for designing bioengineering devices for cell manipulation. This work is supported by the NSF grant number 1946202 ND-ACES.