Oscillations in a Spatial Oncolytic Virus Model
by A. Baabdulla and T. Hillen
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A viral infection of the tumor has two effects, the virus infects cells which subsequently lyse to release more virus particles, and, the virus marks cancer cells as infected and the immune system comes in to eradicate them. Both processes have to work in balance as to efficiently clear the entire tumor. The basic model for oncolytic viruses is an SIV predator-prey model, which has a Hopf bifurcation and periodic solutions. An interesting question is the spatial coupling of these oscillators as many different types of spatio-temporal patterns are possible (see Figure). The key question for clinical applications is how to manipulate the virus such that the system is in the oscillatory state. We discuss several of these approaches.
Simulation of an oncolytic virus model using Andrew Krause’s VisualPDE. C shows the cancer cells (brown is low, black is high), I the infected cancer cells (blue is low and white is high), and V the virus (blue is low and red is high).
