Gardner, Luke

Hay, Quintessa

Lewinski, Nastassja A.

Pak, Eunice

Reynolds, Angela M.

Roger, Liza M.

Segal, Rebecca A.

Shaw, Anna

English

ISU ReD: Research and eData

Presentation for the Symposium on BEER November 2023A mathematical model for wound healing in thereef-building coral Pocillopora damicornisQuintessa Hay1*, Luke Gardner1, Eunice Pak2, Liza M. Roger3,4,5, Rebecca A. Segal1,Anna Shaw1, Nastassja A. Lewinski3, and Angela M. Reynolds11 Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 232842 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 232843 Department of Chemical & Life Science Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 232844 School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 852815 School of Ocean Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281hayq@vcu.eduCoral reefs, among the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, currently face major threats from pollution,unsustainable fishing practices, and perturbations in environmental parameters brought on by climate change.Corals also sustain regular wounding from other sea life and human activity. Recent reef restoration practiceshave even involved intentional wounding by systematically breaking coral fragments and relocating them torevitalize damaged reefs, a practice known as microfragmentation. Despite its importance, very little researchhas explored the inner mechanisms of wound healing in corals. Some reef-building corals have been observedto initiate an immunological response to wounding, similar to that observed in humans and other vertebrates.Utilizing prior models of human tissue wound healing, we formulated a mechanistic model for wound healingin a reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis. The model consists of four differential equations which trackchanges in remaining wound debris, number of cells involved in inflammation, number of cells involved inproliferation, and amount of wound closure through re-epithelialization. The model is fit to experimentalwound size data from linear and circular shaped wounds on live coral fragments. Mathematical methods,including stability analysis and local sensitivity analysis, were used to analyze the resulting model. Theparameter space was also explored to investigate drivers of other possible wound outcomes. This modelserves as a first step in generating mathematical models for wound healing in corals that will not only aid inthe understanding of wound healing as a whole, but also help optimize reef restoration practices and predictrecovery behavior after major wounding events.

A Mathematical Model for Wound Healing in the Reef-Building Coral Pocillopora damicornis

https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1732&context=beer

A Mathematical Model for Wound Healing in the Reef-Building Coral Pocillopora damicornis

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ISU ReD: Research and eData