Heriot-Watt Mathematics Report Series
HWM98-23, 20 Feb 1998
A Continuum Analysis of the Chemotactic Signal Seen by Dictyostelium discoideum
J C Dallon and H G Othmer
Abstract
We develop a mathematical model of cell-to-cell-signalling in Dictyostelium discoideu
that predicts the cAMP signal seen by individual cells in early
aggregation. The model employs two cells on a plane and is designed to
predict the space-time characteristics of both the extracellular cAMP
signal seen by one cell when a nearby cell relays, and the
intracellular cAMP response produced by the stimulus in the receiving
cell. The effect of membrane bound phosphodiesterase is studied and
it is shown that cells can orient effectively even in its absence.
Our results give a detailed picture of how the spatio-temporal
characteristics of the extracellular signal can be transduced into a
time- and space-dependent intracellular gradient, and they suggest a
plausible mechanism for orientation in a natural chemotactic wave.
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