Modeling multi-cellular behavior in epidermal tissue homeostasis via finite state machines in multi-agent systems

Motivation: For the efficient application of multi-agent systems to spatial and functional modeling of tissues flexible and intuitive modeling tools are needed, which allow the graphical specification of cellular behavior in a tissue context without presuming specialized programming skills. Results: We developed a graphical modeling system for multi-agent based simulation of tissue homeostasis. An editor allows the intuitive and hierarchically structured specification of cellular behavior. The models are then automatically compiled into highly efficient source code and dynamically linked to an interactive graphical simulation environment. The system allows the quantitative analysis of the morphological and functional tissue properties emerging from the cell behavioral model. We demonstrate the relevance of the approach using a recently published model of epidermal homeostasis as well as a series of cell-cycle models.