Getting under the skin – computational modelling tackles clinical problems
Professor Rod Smallwood, of the University of Sheffield's Department of Computer Science, is working on a computational model of skin which could deliver a number of clinical benefits, from wound healing to understanding and treating cancers.
The research integrates computational models with current biological understanding of the behaviour of cells within epithelial tissue, such as skin. The aim is to develop a computational model of cell behaviour to shed light on tissue structure and function, differentiation, wound repair and how cancers develop.
Professor Smallwood and his research group have created a computational model of skin tissue, where biological cells are represented as computational 'agents' that are controlled by a set of behavioural functions such as intercellular bonding and migration. Within the computational model, Professor Smallwood has been able to simulate wound healing, and has compared his results with real-life biological data.
Many existing computational models treat biological tissue as a continuum. However, in reality, the complex structure of biological tissue is an outcome of the physical and chemical interactions of millions of individual cells - this means that it makes more sense to consider tissue to be a self-organising system, consisting of populations of cells that interact 'socially'. This aspect of the research draws on studies being conducted by Professor Mike Holcombe, of the Department of Computer Science, on modelling the social behaviour of ants. Professor Smallwood is exploring how cells interact through signalling, for example using hormones.
Having worked in the NHS for 25 years, where he developed instruments to screen for epithelial cancers, Professor Smallwood realised that how cells behave, and how they interact with each other, is fundamental to understanding bodily processes and disease. However, predictive modelling of the interaction of cells has received little attention. Indeed, whereas current research is largely concerned with the symptoms of disease, Professor Smallwood's research seeks to understand the causes, for which an understanding of the interactions between cells is vital.
The project has potential clinical implications, particularly in terms of understanding cancers. Malignancies in epithelial tissues such as the skin, bladder, cervix and prostate account for a large number of deaths worldwide every year. Through computational modelling, Professor Smallwood is developing an understanding of how a healthy tissue maintains homeostasis, and also how the tightly regulated controls on cell proliferation and communication can go wrong, causing uncontrolled cell growth and eventually invasion.
Drawing on the work of Professor Sheila MacNeil, Head of the Skin Research Group at the University of Sheffield, Professor Smallwood's computational model of skin tissue will lead to a clearer understanding of the interactions between cells: "In modelling skin tissue, we can learn about what happens on a cellular level by reducing what is a very complex biological system down to a model of the aspects of the system we are interested in learning about" explains Professor Smallwood. "We are approaching the issue from the perspective of function, not complexity. Although there are 10 million million cells in the human body, a computational model of 50,000 cells could provide us with meaningful results in a single tissue".
For further information, please contact Ian Kingsbury:
tel: 0114 222 1456
email : i.r.kingsbury@sheffield.ac.uk
Suggested links:
www.shef.ac.uk/dcs/research/groups/compbio/cb.html
Notes: This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), one of the UK Government's 7 Research Councils.