Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 15: Posters: Multi-cellular systems

BP 15.3: Poster

Monday, March 16, 2015, 17:30–19:30, Poster A

Transporting Dpp in the fly wing: A theoretical analysis. — •Daniel Aguilar-Hidalgo¹, Maria Romanova-Michailidi², Marcos González-Gaitán², and Frank Jülicher¹ — ¹Max Panck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — ²University of Geneva, Department of Biochemistry, Sciences II, Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

Morphogens are signaling molecules, which are locally secreted and spread in a tissue, where they form graded concentration profiles. Such profiles can provide positional information to the tissue cells, or can act as growth factors stimulating cell and tissue growth. The mechanisms by which morphogens are transported in a tissue are still a matter of debate. We study the dynamics of the morphogen Decapentaplegic (Dpp) in the developing fly wing. Dpp is secreted from a stripe of cells situated at the anterior-posterior compartment boundary of the wing imaginal disc, and spreads to both anterior and posterior targets. We analyze the dynamical properties of two proposed transport mechanisms for Dpp in the wing: (i) a model of effective diffusion by trancytocis and (ii) a model of free diffusion with internalization. This analysis reveals key dynamical differences if endocytosis is perturbed. This could allow distinguishing possible transport mechanisms in experiments using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) techniques and temperature sensitive dynamics mutants.