Proliferation of Anchorage-Dependent Contact-Inhibited Cells.
II. Experimental Results and Validation of the Theoretical Models

K. Zygourakis ^1,*, P. Markenscoff ² and R. Bizios³

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering
Rice University
Houston, Texas 77251-1892

² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Houston
Houston, Texas 77204-4793

³ Department of Biomedical Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, New York 12180

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

ABSTRACT

This study establishes that the cellular automata models developed in an earlier paper capture the essential features of the proliferation process for anchorage-dependent contact-inhibited cells. Image analysis data show that initial distributions of seed cells on the surface of tissue culture plates are spatially nonuniform and simulation results reveal that seeding heterogeneities can strongly influence the observed proliferation rates. Model predictions are in excellent agreement with experimental data obtained with bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells. The models are particularly suitable for predictive purposes since all model parameters can be easily obtained from a priori measurements. Our studies also show that proliferation rates are very sensitive to the spatial distributions of seed cells. The adverse effects of seeding heterogeneities become more pronounced as a cell population approaches confluency and they should be accounted for in experimental studies attempting to assess the response of cells to external stimuli.

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