Virtual infection model of Aspergillus fumigatus in a murine alveolus

Version 1

Adaptation of the previously developed virtual infection model of Aspergillus fumigatus in a human alveolus. This model comprises a hybrid agent-based model of a single murine alveolus. The alveolus is represented in a realistic to-scale representation and contains the cell types of alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) of type 1 and 2 as well as the pores of Kohn (PoK). Furthermore, in this model, depending on the infection dose multiple A. fumigatus conidium are inserted into the alveolus and the AEC, where the conidium is located secretes chemokines. Chemokine secretion is modelled using the partial differential equation of the diffusion equation and numerically simulated using the forward Euler approach. Chemokine gradients can be sensed by the alveolar macrophages by an internal Ordinary differential equation model for receptor-ligand binding. This leads to a directed migration of alveolar macrophages towards the conidium.