ECMSim: A high-performance web simulation of cardiac ECM remodeling through integrated ODE-based signaling and diffusion

Abstract: Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling is central to a wide variety of healthy and diseased tissue processes. Unfortunately, predicting ECM remodeling under various chemical and mechanical conditions has proven to be excessively challenging, due in part to its complex regulation by intracellular and extracellular molecular reaction networks that are spatially and temporally dynamic. We introduce ECMSim, which is a highly interactive, real-time, and web application designed to simulate heterogeneous matrix remodeling. The current model simulates cardiac scar tissue with configurable input conditions using a large-scale model of the cardiac fibroblast signaling network. Cardiac fibrosis is a major component of many forms of heart failure. ECMSim simulates over 1.3 million equations simultaneously in real time that include more than 125 species and more than 200 edges in each cell in a 100*100 spatial array (10,000 cells), which accounts for inputs, receptors, intracellular signaling cascades, ECM production, and feedback loops, as well as molecular diffusion. The algorithm is represented by a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that are coupled with ECM molecular diffusion. The equations are solved on demand using compiled C++ and the WebAssembly standard. The platform includes brush-style cell selection to target a subset of cells with adjustable input molecule concentrations, parameter sliders to adjust parameters on demand, and multiple coupled real-time visualizations of network dynamics at multiple scales. Implementing ECMSim in standard web technologies enables a fully functional application that combines real-time simulation, visual interaction, and model editing. The software enables the investigation of pathological or experimental conditions, hypothetical scenarios, matrix remodeling, or the testing of the effects of an experimental drug(s) with a target receptor.