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On the spontaneous emergence of cell polarity

Author

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  • Steven J. Altschuler

    (Green Center for Systems Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA)

  • Sigurd B. Angenent

    (University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA)

  • Yanqin Wang

    (Green Center for Systems Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA)

  • Lani F. Wu

    (Green Center for Systems Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA)

Abstract

Computational cell biology: follow this molecule Many cell types can spontaneously switch from spatial homogeneity to a polarized state — even without external cues. A mathematical model now strips this phenomenon down to its bare bones. Favouring chance recruitment of a given signalling molecule to sites at the cell's membrane where it is already bound — a positive feedback — is sufficient to allow the spontaneous emergence of polarity, provided that the total pool of this molecule is small. When the number of molecules becomes too high, other biological mechanisms such as cytoskeleton-based transport are needed. The model is reminiscent of some population genetics studies and is confirmed experimentally in Cdc42-dependent polarization of yeast cells.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven J. Altschuler & Sigurd B. Angenent & Yanqin Wang & Lani F. Wu, 2008. "On the spontaneous emergence of cell polarity," Nature, Nature, vol. 454(7206), pages 886-889, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7206:d:10.1038_nature07119
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07119
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    Cited by:

    1. Shi, Qingyan & Song, Yongli, 2022. "Spatiotemporal pattern formation in a pollen tube model with nonlocal effect and time delay," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 165(P1).
    2. Fridtjof Brauns & Leila Iñigo de la Cruz & Werner K.-G. Daalman & Ilse Bruin & Jacob Halatek & Liedewij Laan & Erwin Frey, 2023. "Redundancy and the role of protein copy numbers in the cell polarization machinery of budding yeast," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. James C Schaff & Fei Gao & Ye Li & Igor L Novak & Boris M Slepchenko, 2016. "Numerical Approach to Spatial Deterministic-Stochastic Models Arising in Cell Biology," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Brian Drawert & Andreas Hellander & Ben Bales & Debjani Banerjee & Giovanni Bellesia & Bernie J Daigle Jr. & Geoffrey Douglas & Mengyuan Gu & Anand Gupta & Stefan Hellander & Chris Horuk & Dibyendu Na, 2016. "Stochastic Simulation Service: Bridging the Gap between the Computational Expert and the Biologist," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-15, December.

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