A model for transfer phenomena in structured populations
by
Peter Hinow
Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, University of Minnesota
Coauthors: Pierre Magal (University of Le Havre, France) Glenn F. Webb (Vanderbilt University)

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is known to cause resistance to cancer chemotherapy as it is able to remove toxic substances from the cytoplasm of a cell. Recent experimental work by Levchenko et al. shows that cells rich in P-gp are able to transfer part of their P-gp to other cells and thereby may confer resistance. We propose a mathematical model for the transfer of a scalar quantity in a structured population. In addition we consider expression of P-gp under exposure to drug as well as proliferation and death in the cell population.

Date received: April 30, 2008