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Chemotactic movement of single cells.
1Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.
ASGSB Bulletin : Publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology
|July 1, 1991
Summary
Cellular "noise" in signal detection explains neutrophil movement. This unified model accurately predicts random walks in uniform attractant and biased movement up gradients, reconciling persistence and orientation bias.
Area of Science:
- Cellular biology
- Biophysics
- Mathematical modeling
Background:
- Neutrophils exhibit distinct movement patterns: persistent random walks in uniform chemoattractants and biased random walks up gradients.
- Understanding the unified mechanism behind both persistence and directional bias in neutrophil chemotaxis is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and validate a unifying theoretical framework for neutrophil chemosensory movement behavior.
- To investigate the role of intracellular "noise" in signal detection and response.
Main Methods:
- Development of a stochastic mathematical model for cell chemosensory movement.
- Model based on kinetic fluctuations in attractant-receptor binding.
- Simulation of cell paths and quantitative prediction of movement parameters.
Main Results:
- The model successfully simulates neutrophil paths in both uniform and gradient attractant concentrations.
- Quantitative predictions for persistence time and orientation bias align with experimental data for neutrophils.
- Model analysis reveals dependencies of movement parameters on receptor binding and signal transduction.
Conclusions:
- Cellular "noise" in signal detection provides a unifying explanation for neutrophil random motility and chemotaxis.
- The proposed model quantitatively reconciles persistence and orientation bias with a single noise level.
- This framework offers fundamental insights into leukocyte chemosensory movement.