[A mathematical model of segmentation in vertebrate somitogenesis]

A mathematical model for the mechanism of periodic pattern formation in the process of somitogenesis is proposed. It is assumed that metameric arrangement first appears before somite formation at the stage of transition of mesodermal into presomitic cells. It is assumed that the transition occurs in a certain phase of the mitotic cycle and that it can be suppressed due to excretion of some transition inhibitor by presomitic cells. The model demonstrates that periodicity can appear as a result of interaction of the wave of somitogenic cell determination with the mitotic cycles of mesodermal cells. It is shown that the model naturally explains synchrony in the somite formation and the results of heat shock experiments.