Regensburg 2010 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 36: Posters: Tissue Dynamics, Charge Effects, and Anomalous Transport
BP 36.3: Poster
Donnerstag, 25. März 2010, 17:15–20:00, Poster B2
Intercellular coupling tunes the period and stability of a multicellular biological clock — •Luis G. Morelli1,2, Saúl Ares2, Leah Herrgen1, Christian Schröter1, Andrew C. Oates1, and Frank Jülicher2 — 1Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics — 2Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems
During vertebrate embryonic development, the body segments are formed in a sequential and periodic process controlled by a multi-cellular genetic clock. Single cells contain autonomous genetic oscillators, and communicate with their neighbors to produce a reliable rhythm that results in a precise segmented pattern. Intercellular communication involves a complex cascade of events that introduces time delays in the coupling, and coupling delays can have complex effects on the collective dynamics. We have developed a generic description of the segmentation clock using phase oscillators, coupled with a time delay. This theory predicted that coupling strength and delays can tune the period of the segmentation clock and produce changes in segment length and cyclic gene expression patterns. We have verified these predictions under experimental conditions affecting components of intercellular coupling in zebrafish embryos. The theory also predicts the existence of instabilities for certain ranges of the coupling delay. By altering the traffic of ligands involved in inter-cellular communication, we find evidence consistent with such an instability.