Aggregating rods: applications to angiogenesis

Abstract

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from splitting or sprouting of pre-existing ones, is a fundamental mechanism for many processes in normal physiology (wound healing) as well as in disease (tumor growth and metastasis). During the first stages of angiogenesis, the cells organize into vascular networks; we would like to undestand how individual behavior of the cells affects their collective motion during this phenomenon. We present and discuss a numerical model that reproduces the formation of such structures; we then proceed to propose a mathematical framework in which our model could be further analyzed.