A multiscale theoretical model for diffusive mass transfer in cellular biological media

Abstract

An integrated methodology is developed for the theoretical analysis of solute transport and reaction in cellular biological media, such as tissues, microbial flocs, and biofilms. First, the method of local spatial averaging with a weight function is used to establish the equation which describes solute conservation at the cellular biological medium scale, starting with a continuum-based formulation of solute transport at finer spatial scales. Second, an effective-medium model is developed for the self-consistent calculation of the local diffusion coefficient in the cellular biological medium, including the effects of the structural heterogeneity of the extra-cellular space and the reversible adsorption to extra-cellular polymers. The final expression for the local effective diffusion coefficient is: D(Abeta)=lambda(beta)D(Aupsilon), where D(Aupsilon) is the diffusion coefficient in water, and lambda(beta) is a function of the composition and fundamental geometric and physicochemical system properties, including the size of solute molecules, the size of extra-cellular polymer fibers, and the mass permeability of the cell membrane. Furthermore, the analysis sheds some light on the function of the extra-cellular hydrogel as a diffusive barrier to solute molecules approaching the cell membrane, and its implications on the transport of chemotherapeutic agents within a cellular biological medium. Finally, the model predicts the qualitative trend as well as the quantitative variability of a large number of published experimental data on the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in cell-entrapping gels, microbial flocs, biofilms, and mammalian tissues.