Simulation of growth cone pathfindiing

We have developed a quantitative model for growth cone guidance and migration in complex, biologically relevant environments. Our model has three main components: random growth cone migration, sampling of the growth cone´s environment, and biased growth cone migration upon contact with a guidance cue. In this paper we present the development of our model and preliminary results. We plan to apply our model to simulate growth cone migration through a permissive pathway, an environment previously tested in vitro on micropatterned surfaces and observed in vivo during development. By manipulating the strength and arrangement of simulated guidance cues we will be able to infer how manipulation of the growth cone´s environment affects the growth cone´s ability to pathfind.