Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Assessment of Dictyostelium discoideum Response to Acute Mechanical Stimulation
Published on: November 9, 2017
Oscillations and waves of cyclic AMP in Dictyostelium: a prototype for spatio-temporal organization and pulsatile
1Unité de Chronobiologie théorique, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, C.P. 231, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium. agoldbet@ulb.ac.be
Abstract:
The amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum aggregate after starvation in a wavelike manner in response to periodic pulses of cyclic AMP (cAMP) secreted by cells which behave as aggregation centers. In addition to autonomous oscillations, the cAMP signaling system that controls aggregation is also capable of excitable behavior, which consists in the transient amplification of suprathreshold pulses of extracellular cAMP. Since the first theoretical model for slime mold aggregation proposed by Keller and Segel in 1970, many theoretical studies have addressed various aspects of the mechanism and function of cAMP signaling in Dictyostelium. This paper presents a brief overview of these developments as well as some reminiscences of the author's collaboration with Lee Segel in modeling the dynamics of cAMP relay and oscillations. Considered in turn are models for cAMP signaling in Dictyostelium, the developmental path followed by the cAMP signaling system after starvation, the frequency encoding of cAMP signals, and the origin of concentric or spiral waves of cAMP.
Related Concept Videos
Feedback Regulation of Calcium Concentration
Various transmembrane receptors, such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), elicit a response to extracellular signals by increasing cytosolic calcium. Activated GPCRs...
Diversity of Protists IV
Cell Motility through Blebbing
Blebbing Through the Matrix
In multicellular...
Actin Polymerization and Cell Motility
Actin cytoskeleton dynamics can produce pushing, pulling, and resistance forces that help the cell to migrate.
Intracellular Signaling Cascades
Cytoskeletal Coordination in Cell Migration

