John Dallon: Paper Abstract
How cellular
movement determines the collective force generated by the Dictyostelium
discoideum slug
AUTHORS:
John C. Dallon 1 and H. G. Othmer 2
1: Department of Mathematics, Brigham Young University,
Provo, UT 84602
2:School of Mathematics,
270A Vincent Hall, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
ABSTRACT:
How the collective motion of cells in a biological tissue originates
in the behavior of a collection of individuals, each of which responds
to the chemical and mechanical signals it receives from neighbors, is
still poorly understood. Here we study this question for a particular
system, the slug stage of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium
discoideum. We investigate how cells in the interior of a migrating
slug can effectively transmit stress to the substrate and thereby
contribute to the overall motive force. Theoretical analysis suggests
necessary conditions on the behavior of individual cells, and
computational results shed light on experimental results concerning
the total force exerted by a migrating slug. The model predicts that
only cells in contact with the substrate contribute to the
translational motion of the slug. Since the model is not based
specifically on the mechanical properties of Dictyostelium
discoideum cells, the results suggest that this behavior will be
found in many developing systems.
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