Signaling Delays Preclude Defects in Lateral Inhibition Patterning

Lateral inhibition represents a well-studied example of biology's ability to self-organize multicellular spatial patterns with single-cell precision. Despite established biochemical mechanisms for lateral inhibition (e.g., Delta-Notch), it remains unclear how cell-cell signaling delays inherent to these mechanisms affect patterning outcomes. We investigate a compact model of lateral inhibition highlighting these delays and find, remarkably, that long delays can ensure defect-free patterning. This effect is underscored by an interplay with synchronous oscillations, cis interactions, and signaling strength. Our results suggest that signaling delays, though previously posited as a source of developmental defects, may in fact be a general regulatory knob for tuning developmental robustness.