Computer simulation of engulfment and other movements of embryonic tissues

Using a model proposed earlier by Goel et al. and a set of plausible motility rules, a computer simulation of engulfment of two or more intact embryonic tissues is successfully carried out. The same motility rules are used to simulate the rounding up of a tissue, centralization of one tissue within another tissue (a phenomenon not yet observed), and phase inversion, a process which may have relevance to differentiation. The finnal structures bear a good resemblance to those observed experimentally. The software, in conjunction with an appropriate hardware configuration, allows a visual display of the dynamics of cellular movement. These simulations indicate that the range of inter-cellular interactions controlling these tissue rearrangements extends only one or two cell diameters.