Simulation of Transport of Lipophilic Compounds in Complex Cell Geometry

Abstract: The mathematical modeling of the diffusion and reaction of toxic compounds in mammalian cells is tough task due to their very complex geometry. The heterogeneity of the cell, particularly the cytoplasm, and the variation of the cellular architecture, greatly affects the behavior of these toxic compounds. Homogenization techniques have been implemented for the numerical treatment of the model. This technique considerably reduces the complexity of the model. To see the behavior of the cell after the inclusion of the toxic compounds, we have implemented a mathematical model in Comsol Multiphysics. The results of the model have been validated against the results got from the experiments performed in vitro. The work has been done in 2-dimensional space and can be extended to 3-dimensional space and also with more complex reaction systems