This tutorial is automatically generated from the file cell_based/test/tutorial/TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPropertyTutorial.hpp at revision 196f6e705993/git_repo. Note that the code is given in full at the bottom of the page.

An example showing how to create a new cell property and use it in a cell-based simulation

Introduction

This tutorial assumes you have already read UserTutorials/CreatingAndUsingANewForce.

In the UserTutorials/CreatingAndUsingANewCellMutationState we showed how to create a new cell mutation state class, and how this can be used in a cell-based simulation. As well as mutation states, cells may be given much more general properties, using the cell property class hierarchy. In this tutorial, we show how to create a new cell property class, and how this can be used in a cell-based simulation. We will also use a simple new force to illustrate what you can do with cell properties (and also mutations).

1. Including header files

As in previous cell-based Chaste tutorials, we begin by including the necessary header file and archiving headers. 

#include <cxxtest/TestSuite.h>
#include "CheckpointArchiveTypes.hpp"
#include "AbstractCellBasedTestSuite.hpp"

The next header defines a base class for cell properties. Our new cell property will inherit from this abstract class. 

#include "AbstractCellProperty.hpp"

The remaining header files define classes that will be used in the cell-based simulation test. We have encountered each of these header files in previous cell-based Chaste tutorials. 

#include "AbstractForce.hpp"
#include "HoneycombMeshGenerator.hpp"
#include "NodesOnlyMesh.hpp"
#include "WildTypeCellMutationState.hpp"
#include "DifferentiatedCellProliferativeType.hpp"
#include "CellLabel.hpp"
#include "FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel.hpp"
#include "GeneralisedLinearSpringForce.hpp"
#include "CellMutationStatesCountWriter.hpp"
#include "OffLatticeSimulation.hpp"
#include "SmartPointers.hpp"
//This test is always run sequentially (never in parallel)
#include "FakePetscSetup.hpp"

Defining the cell property class

As an example, let us consider a cell property class that is used to label those cells that are "motile". This cell property could then be used when implementing some form of chemotaxis down an imposed chemoattractant gradient, as occurs for example when macrophages migrate within a tumour towards high concentrations of the vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF; for further details, see for example Owen et al., J. Theor. Biol. 226: 377-391 (2004).

Note that usually this code would be separated out into a separate declaration in a .hpp file and definition in a .cpp file. 

class MotileCellProperty : public AbstractCellProperty
{
private:

We define a member variable mColour, which can be used by visualization tools to paint cells with this mutation state a distinct colour if required. 

    unsigned mColour;

The next block of code allows us to archive (save or load) the cell property object in a cell-based simulation. The code consists of a serialize() method, in which we first archive the cell property using the serialization code defined in the base class AbstractCellProperty, then archive the member variable mColour. 

    friend class boost::serialization::access;
    template<class Archive>
    void serialize(Archive & archive, const unsigned int version)
    {
        archive & boost::serialization::base_object<AbstractCellProperty>(*this);
        archive & mColour;
    }

public:

The default constructor allows us to specify a value for the member variable mColour, or leave it with a default value. 

    MotileCellProperty(unsigned colour=5)
        : AbstractCellProperty(),
          mColour(colour)
    {
    }

We then define a destructor and a get method for the member variable mColour. 

    ~MotileCellProperty()
    {}

    unsigned GetColour() const
    {
        return mColour;
    }
};

This completes the code for MotileCellProperty. Note that usually this code would be separated out into a separate declaration in a .hpp file and definition in a .cpp file.

Defining the motive force class

In order to illustrate the use of cell properties we make a simple force law which causes all cells with the MotileCellProperty to move towards the origin. To do this we create a new force class, MyMotiveForce, which inherits from AbstractForce and overrides the methods AddForceContribution() and OutputForceParameters().

Note that usually this code would be separated out into a separate declaration in a .hpp file and definition in a .cpp file. 

class MyMotiveForce : public AbstractForce<2>
{
private:

This force class includes a member variable, mStrength, which defines the strength of the force. This member variable will be set in the constructor. 

    double mStrength;

We only need to include the next block of code if we wish to be able to archive (save or load) the force model object in a cell-based simulation. The code consists of a serialize method, in which we first archive the force using the serialization code defined in the base class AbstractForce, then archive the member variable. 

    friend class boost::serialization::access;
    template<class Archive>
    void serialize(Archive & archive, const unsigned int version)
    {
        archive & boost::serialization::base_object<AbstractForce<2> >(*this);
        archive & mStrength;
    }

public:

The first public method is a default constructor, which calls the base constructor. There is a single input argument, which defines the strength of the force. We provide a default value of 2.0 for this argument. Inside the method, we add an assertion to make sure that the strength is strictly positive. 

    MyMotiveForce(double strength=2.0)
        : AbstractForce<2>(),
          mStrength(strength)
    {
        assert(mStrength > 0.0);
    }

The second public method overrides AddForceContribution(). This method takes in one argument, a reference to the cell population itself. 

    void AddForceContribution(AbstractCellPopulation<2>& rCellPopulation)
    {

Inside the method, we loop over cells, and add a vector to each node associated with cells with the MotileCellProperty, which is proportional (with constant mStrength) to the negative of the position. Causing cells to move inwards towards the origin. Note that this will currently only work with subclasses of AbstractCentreBasedCellPopulations as we associate cells with nodes in the force calculation. However, this could easily be modified to make it work for VertexBasedCellPopulations. 

        for (AbstractCellPopulation<2>::Iterator cell_iter = rCellPopulation.Begin();
             cell_iter != rCellPopulation.End();
             ++cell_iter)
        {
            if (cell_iter->HasCellProperty<MotileCellProperty>())
            {
                unsigned node_index = rCellPopulation.GetLocationIndexUsingCell(*cell_iter);

                c_vector<double, 2> location;
                location = rCellPopulation.GetLocationOfCellCentre(*cell_iter);
                c_vector<double, 2> force = -1.0 * mStrength * location;
                rCellPopulation.GetNode(node_index)->AddAppliedForceContribution(force);
            }
        }
    }

Just as we encountered in UserTutorials/CreatingAndUsingANewCellKiller, here we must override a method that outputs any member variables to a specified results file rParamsFile. In our case, we output the member variable mStrength, then call the method on the base class. 

    void OutputForceParameters(out_stream& rParamsFile)
    {
        *rParamsFile << "\t\t\t<Strength>" << mStrength << "</Strength>\n";
        AbstractForce<2>::OutputForceParameters(rParamsFile);
    }
};

As mentioned in previous cell-based Chaste tutorials, we need to include the next block of code to be able to archive the cell property and force objects in a cell-based simulation, and to obtain a unique identifier for our new classes for when writing results to file.

Identifiers for both classes are defined together here, since we can only have each #include once in this source file. Normally the first include and export would go in the class' header, and the second include and export in the .cpp file for each respective class. 

#include "SerializationExportWrapper.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MotileCellProperty)
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyMotiveForce)
#include "SerializationExportWrapperForCpp.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MotileCellProperty)
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyMotiveForce)

This completes the code for MyMotiveForce. Note that usually this code would be separated out into a separate declaration in a .hpp file and definition in a .cpp file.

The Tests

We now define the test class, which inherits from AbstractCellBasedTestSuite. 

class TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPropertyTutorial : public AbstractCellBasedTestSuite
{
public:

Testing the cell property

We begin by testing that our new cell property is implemented correctly. 

    void TestMotileCellProperty()
    {

We begin by testing that some of the base class methods work correctly. We typically use shared pointers to create and access a cell property like MotileCellProperty, for which it makes sense for all cells that have the same mutation to share a pointer to the same cell property object (although strictly speaking, they are not required to). Observe that in this case we have provided a value for the member variable mColour in the MotileCellProperty constructor. 

        MAKE_PTR_ARGS(MotileCellProperty, p_property, (8));

Each cell property has a member variable, mCellCount, which stores the number of cells with this cell property. We can test whether mCellCount is being updated correctly by our cell property, as follows. 

        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->GetCellCount(), 0u);
        p_property->IncrementCellCount();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->GetCellCount(), 1u);
        p_property->DecrementCellCount();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->GetCellCount(), 0u);
        TS_ASSERT_THROWS_THIS(p_property->DecrementCellCount(),
                "Cannot decrement cell count: no cells have this cell property");

We can also test whether our cell property is of a given type, as follows. 

        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->IsType<WildTypeCellMutationState>(), false);
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->IsType<MotileCellProperty>(), true);

We can also test that archiving is implemented correctly for our cell property, as follows (further details on how to implement and test archiving can be found at ChasteGuides/BoostSerialization). 

        OutputFileHandler handler("archive", false);
        std::string archive_filename = handler.GetOutputDirectoryFullPath() + "property.arch";

        {
            AbstractCellProperty* const p_const_property = new MotileCellProperty(7);
            p_const_property->IncrementCellCount();

            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_const_property->GetCellCount(), 1u);
            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(dynamic_cast<MotileCellProperty*>(p_const_property)->GetColour(), 7u);

            std::ofstream ofs(archive_filename.c_str());
            boost::archive::text_oarchive output_arch(ofs);

            output_arch << p_const_property;

            delete p_const_property;
        }

        {
            AbstractCellProperty* p_arch_property;

            std::ifstream ifs(archive_filename.c_str());
            boost::archive::text_iarchive input_arch(ifs);

            input_arch >> p_arch_property;

            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_arch_property->GetCellCount(), 1u);

            MotileCellProperty* p_real_property = dynamic_cast<MotileCellProperty*>(p_arch_property);
            TS_ASSERT(p_real_property != NULL);
            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_real_property->GetColour(), 7u);

            delete p_arch_property;
        }
    }

Using the cell property in a cell-based simulation

We conclude with a brief test demonstrating how MotileCellProperty can be used in a cell-based simulation. 

    void TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMotileCellProperty()
    {

Note that HoneycombMeshGenerator?, used in this test, is not yet implemented in parallel.

We use the HoneycombMeshGenerator to create a honeycomb mesh covering a circular domain of given radius, and use this to generate a NodesOnlyMesh as follows. 

        HoneycombMeshGenerator generator(10, 10);
        MutableMesh<2,2>* p_generating_mesh = generator.GetCircularMesh(5);

        NodesOnlyMesh<2> mesh;

We construct the mesh using the generating mesh and a cut-off 1.5 which defines the connectivity in the mesh. 

        mesh.ConstructNodesWithoutMesh(*p_generating_mesh, 1.5);

We now create a shared pointer to our new property, as follows. 

        MAKE_PTR(MotileCellProperty, p_motile);

Also create a shared pointer to a cell label so we can visualize the different cell types. Note that this is also a CellProperty. 

        MAKE_PTR(CellLabel, p_label);

Next, we create some cells. We don't use a Generator as we want to give some cells the new cell property, therefore we create the cells in a loop, as follows. 

        MAKE_PTR(WildTypeCellMutationState, p_state);
        MAKE_PTR(DifferentiatedCellProliferativeType, p_diff_type);
        std::vector<CellPtr> cells;
        for (unsigned i=0; i<mesh.GetNumNodes(); i++)
        {

For each node we create a cell with our cell-cycle model and the wild-type cell mutation state. We then add the property MotileCellProperty to a random selection of the cells, as follows. 

            FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel* p_model = new FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel();

            CellPropertyCollection collection;
            if (RandomNumberGenerator::Instance()->ranf() < 0.2)
            {
                collection.AddProperty(p_motile);
                collection.AddProperty(p_label);
            }

            CellPtr p_cell(new Cell(p_state, p_model, NULL, false, collection));
            p_cell->SetCellProliferativeType(p_diff_type);

Now, we define a random birth time, chosen from [-T,0], where T = t1 + t2, where t1 is a parameter representing the G1 duration of a stem cell, and t2 is the basic S+G2+M phases duration. 

            double birth_time = - RandomNumberGenerator::Instance()->ranf() *
                                    (p_model->GetStemCellG1Duration()
                                        + p_model->GetSG2MDuration());

Finally, we set the birth time and push the cell back into the vector of cells. 

            p_cell->SetBirthTime(birth_time);
            cells.push_back(p_cell);
        }

Now that we have defined the mesh and cells, we can define the cell population. The constructor takes in the mesh and the cells vector. 

        NodeBasedCellPopulation<2> cell_population(mesh, cells);

In order to visualize labelled cells we need to use the following command. 

        cell_population.AddCellPopulationCountWriter<CellMutationStatesCountWriter>();

We then pass in the cell population into an OffLatticeSimulation, and set the output directory, output multiple, and end time. 

        OffLatticeSimulation<2> simulator(cell_population);
        simulator.SetOutputDirectory("TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMotileCellProperty");
        simulator.SetSamplingTimestepMultiple(12);
        simulator.SetEndTime(10.0);

We create a force law and pass it to the OffLatticeSimulation. 

        MAKE_PTR(GeneralisedLinearSpringForce<2>, p_linear_force);
        p_linear_force->SetCutOffLength(1.5);
        simulator.AddForce(p_linear_force);

Now create a MotlieForce and pass it to the OffLatticeSimulation. 

        MAKE_PTR(MyMotiveForce, p_motive_force);
        simulator.AddForce(p_motive_force);

To run the simulation, we call Solve(). 

        simulator.Solve();
    }
};

When you visualize the results with

java Visualize2dCentreCells /tmp/$USER/testoutput/TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMotileCellProperty/results_from_time_0

you should see a collection of cells with the MotileCellProperty (labelled dark blue) moving towards the origin.

Code

The full code is given below

File name TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPropertyTutorial.hpp

#include <cxxtest/TestSuite.h>
#include "CheckpointArchiveTypes.hpp"
#include "AbstractCellBasedTestSuite.hpp"

#include "AbstractCellProperty.hpp"
#include "AbstractForce.hpp"
#include "HoneycombMeshGenerator.hpp"
#include "NodesOnlyMesh.hpp"
#include "WildTypeCellMutationState.hpp"
#include "DifferentiatedCellProliferativeType.hpp"
#include "CellLabel.hpp"
#include "FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel.hpp"
#include "GeneralisedLinearSpringForce.hpp"
#include "CellMutationStatesCountWriter.hpp"
#include "OffLatticeSimulation.hpp"
#include "SmartPointers.hpp"
//This test is always run sequentially (never in parallel)
#include "FakePetscSetup.hpp"

class MotileCellProperty : public AbstractCellProperty
{
private:

    unsigned mColour;

    friend class boost::serialization::access;
    template<class Archive>
    void serialize(Archive & archive, const unsigned int version)
    {
        archive & boost::serialization::base_object<AbstractCellProperty>(*this);
        archive & mColour;
    }

public:

    MotileCellProperty(unsigned colour=5)
        : AbstractCellProperty(),
          mColour(colour)
    {
    }

    ~MotileCellProperty()
    {}

    unsigned GetColour() const
    {
        return mColour;
    }
};
class MyMotiveForce : public AbstractForce<2>
{
private:

    double mStrength;

    friend class boost::serialization::access;
    template<class Archive>
    void serialize(Archive & archive, const unsigned int version)
    {
        archive & boost::serialization::base_object<AbstractForce<2> >(*this);
        archive & mStrength;
    }

public:
    MyMotiveForce(double strength=2.0)
        : AbstractForce<2>(),
          mStrength(strength)
    {
        assert(mStrength > 0.0);
    }

    void AddForceContribution(AbstractCellPopulation<2>& rCellPopulation)
    {
        for (AbstractCellPopulation<2>::Iterator cell_iter = rCellPopulation.Begin();
             cell_iter != rCellPopulation.End();
             ++cell_iter)
        {
            if (cell_iter->HasCellProperty<MotileCellProperty>())
            {
                unsigned node_index = rCellPopulation.GetLocationIndexUsingCell(*cell_iter);

                c_vector<double, 2> location;
                location = rCellPopulation.GetLocationOfCellCentre(*cell_iter);
                c_vector<double, 2> force = -1.0 * mStrength * location;
                rCellPopulation.GetNode(node_index)->AddAppliedForceContribution(force);
            }
        }
    }

    void OutputForceParameters(out_stream& rParamsFile)
    {
        *rParamsFile << "\t\t\t<Strength>" << mStrength << "</Strength>\n";
        AbstractForce<2>::OutputForceParameters(rParamsFile);
    }
};

#include "SerializationExportWrapper.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MotileCellProperty)
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyMotiveForce)
#include "SerializationExportWrapperForCpp.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MotileCellProperty)
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyMotiveForce)

class TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPropertyTutorial : public AbstractCellBasedTestSuite
{
public:

    void TestMotileCellProperty()
    {
        MAKE_PTR_ARGS(MotileCellProperty, p_property, (8));

        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->GetCellCount(), 0u);
        p_property->IncrementCellCount();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->GetCellCount(), 1u);
        p_property->DecrementCellCount();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->GetCellCount(), 0u);
        TS_ASSERT_THROWS_THIS(p_property->DecrementCellCount(),
                "Cannot decrement cell count: no cells have this cell property");

        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->IsType<WildTypeCellMutationState>(), false);
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_property->IsType<MotileCellProperty>(), true);

        OutputFileHandler handler("archive", false);
        std::string archive_filename = handler.GetOutputDirectoryFullPath() + "property.arch";

        {
            AbstractCellProperty* const p_const_property = new MotileCellProperty(7);
            p_const_property->IncrementCellCount();

            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_const_property->GetCellCount(), 1u);
            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(dynamic_cast<MotileCellProperty*>(p_const_property)->GetColour(), 7u);

            std::ofstream ofs(archive_filename.c_str());
            boost::archive::text_oarchive output_arch(ofs);

            output_arch << p_const_property;

            delete p_const_property;
        }

        {
            AbstractCellProperty* p_arch_property;

            std::ifstream ifs(archive_filename.c_str());
            boost::archive::text_iarchive input_arch(ifs);

            input_arch >> p_arch_property;

            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_arch_property->GetCellCount(), 1u);

            MotileCellProperty* p_real_property = dynamic_cast<MotileCellProperty*>(p_arch_property);
            TS_ASSERT(p_real_property != NULL);
            TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(p_real_property->GetColour(), 7u);

            delete p_arch_property;
        }
    }

    void TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMotileCellProperty()
    {
        HoneycombMeshGenerator generator(10, 10);
        MutableMesh<2,2>* p_generating_mesh = generator.GetCircularMesh(5);

        NodesOnlyMesh<2> mesh;
        mesh.ConstructNodesWithoutMesh(*p_generating_mesh, 1.5);

        MAKE_PTR(MotileCellProperty, p_motile);
        MAKE_PTR(CellLabel, p_label);

        MAKE_PTR(WildTypeCellMutationState, p_state);
        MAKE_PTR(DifferentiatedCellProliferativeType, p_diff_type);
        std::vector<CellPtr> cells;
        for (unsigned i=0; i<mesh.GetNumNodes(); i++)
        {
            FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel* p_model = new FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel();

            CellPropertyCollection collection;
            if (RandomNumberGenerator::Instance()->ranf() < 0.2)
            {
                collection.AddProperty(p_motile);
                collection.AddProperty(p_label);
            }

            CellPtr p_cell(new Cell(p_state, p_model, NULL, false, collection));
            p_cell->SetCellProliferativeType(p_diff_type);

            double birth_time = - RandomNumberGenerator::Instance()->ranf() *
                                    (p_model->GetStemCellG1Duration()
                                        + p_model->GetSG2MDuration());

            p_cell->SetBirthTime(birth_time);
            cells.push_back(p_cell);
        }

        NodeBasedCellPopulation<2> cell_population(mesh, cells);

        cell_population.AddCellPopulationCountWriter<CellMutationStatesCountWriter>();

        OffLatticeSimulation<2> simulator(cell_population);
        simulator.SetOutputDirectory("TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMotileCellProperty");
        simulator.SetSamplingTimestepMultiple(12);
        simulator.SetEndTime(10.0);

        MAKE_PTR(GeneralisedLinearSpringForce<2>, p_linear_force);
        p_linear_force->SetCutOffLength(1.5);
        simulator.AddForce(p_linear_force);

        MAKE_PTR(MyMotiveForce, p_motive_force);
        simulator.AddForce(p_motive_force);

        simulator.Solve();
    }
};