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Updated: May 30, 2026

NF-κB-dependent Luciferase Activation and Quantification of Gene Expression in Salmonella Infected Tissue Culture Cells
Published on: January 12, 2020
Modeling the NF-κB mediated inflammatory response predicts cytokine waves in tissue
Pernille Yde1, Benedicte Mengel, Mogens H Jensen
1Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark. trusina@nbi.dk
Background:
Waves propagating in "excitable media" is a reliable way to transmit signals in space. A fascinating example where living cells comprise such a medium is Dictyostelium D. which propagates waves of chemoattractant to attract distant cells. While neutrophils chemotax in a similar fashion as Dictyostelium D., it is unclear if chemoattractant waves exist in mammalian tissues and what mechanisms could propagate them.
Results:
We propose that chemoattractant cytokine waves may naturally develop as a result of NF-κB response. Using a heuristic mathematical model of NF-κB-like circuits coupled in space we show that the known characteristics of NF-κB response favor cytokine waves.
Conclusions:
While the propagating wave of cytokines is generally beneficial for inflammation resolution, our model predicts that there exist special conditions that can cause chronic inflammation and re-occurrence of acute inflammatory response.
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