Modelling mechanically dominated vasculature development

Abstract

Vascular networks play a key role in the development, function, and survival of many organisms, facilitating transport of nutrients and other critical factors within and between systems. The development of these vessel networks has been thoroughly explored in a variety of in vivo, in vitro and in silico contexts. However, the role of interactions between the growing vasculature and its environment remains largely unresolved, particularly concerning mechanical effects. Motivated by this gap in understanding, we develop a computational framework that is tailored to exploring the role of the mechanical environment on the formation of vascular networks. Here, we describe, document, implement, and explore an agent-based modelling framework, resolving the growth of individual vessels and seeking to capture phenomenology and intuitive qualitative mechanisms. In our explorations, we demonstrate that such a model can successfully reproduce familiar network structures, whilst highlighting the roles that mechanical influences could play in vascular development. For instance, we illustrate how an external substrate could act as an effective shared memory for the periodic regrowth of vasculature. We also observe the emergence of a nuanced collective behaviour and clustered vessel growth, which results from mechanical characteristics of the external environment.