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Updated: May 24, 2026
08:10
In Vitro Reconstitution of Self-Organizing Protein Patterns on Supported Lipid Bilayers
Published on: July 28, 2018
Self-organized transition to coherent activity in disordered media
Rajeev Singh1, Jinshan Xu, Nicolas G Garnier
1The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, CIT Campus, Taramani, Chennai, India.
Physical Review Letters
|March 10, 2012
Summary
Synchronized biological oscillations can emerge spontaneously in disordered, coupled cell systems. Increased coupling strength drives waves leading to cluster, local, and global synchronization, potentially explaining uterine contractions.
Area of Science:
- Computational biology
- Systems biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Synchronized oscillations are crucial for biological functions.
- Centralized coordination is often assumed for biological rhythms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the emergence of synchronized oscillations in disordered systems without centralized control.
- To explore the role of cell coupling strength in synchronization patterns.
Main Methods:
- Simulations of electrically coupled excitable and passive cells.
- Analysis of wave propagation and synchronization phenomena.
- Varying coupling strength to observe transitions in oscillatory behavior.
Main Results:
- Disordered systems can generate synchronized oscillations without centralized coordination.
- Increasing coupling strength leads to wave formation and coherent periodic activity.
- Observed synchronization patterns include cluster, local, and global coherence.
Conclusions:
- Self-organized synchronization is possible in disordered biological systems.
- The findings may elucidate the mechanism behind the uterus's transition to coordinated contractions during labor.
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