A mean-field theory of cellular growth

, , and

2002 EDP Sciences
, , Citation J. C. M. Mombach et al 2002 EPL 59 923 DOI 10.1209/epl/i2002-00244-6

This article is corrected by 2002 EPL 60 489

0295-5075/59/6/923

Abstract

We present a unified model for the growth of a population of cells. We propose that sigmoidal growth in cellular systems is a self-organised process due to long-range interactions among the cells. The interaction is mediated through diffusive substances produced by them. The model considers a competition between cell drive to replicate and inhibitory interactions that are modeled by a power law of the distance between the cells. The different classes of solutions (Logistic, Richards-like, Gompertz, and Exponential) are determined by a relation between the interaction length and the fractal dimension of the cellular structure.

Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS

10.1209/epl/i2002-00244-6