In vitro transmesothelial migration assays of ovarian cancer cells, isolated or
aggregated in multicellular spheroids, are reproduced deducing suitable Cellular Potts
Models (CPM). We show that the simulations are in good agreement with the experimental
evidence and that the overall process is regulated by the activity of matrix
metalloproteinases (MMPs) and by the interplay of the adhesive properties of the cells
with the extracellular matrix and between cells, both of the same type and of different
types. In particular, the process depends on the ability of the cell to induce the
loosening of cadherin-mediated junctions. Coherently with experiments, it is found that
single cell invasion is more conservative with a crucial role played by MMPs. A similar
important role is played in cell spheroid invasion, which in comparison is more
disruptive. It achieves monofocal or multifocal characteristics according to the relative
adhesion affinity among cells or between them and the mesothelial layer.