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Crawling and turning in a minimal reaction-diffusion cell motility model: Coupling cell shape and biochemistry

Brian A. Camley, Yanxiang Zhao, Bo Li, Herbert Levine, and Wouter-Jan Rappel
Phys. Rev. E 95, 012401 – Published 5 January 2017

Abstract

We study a minimal model of a crawling eukaryotic cell with a chemical polarity controlled by a reaction-diffusion mechanism describing Rho GTPase dynamics. The size, shape, and speed of the cell emerge from the combination of the chemical polarity, which controls the locations where actin polymerization occurs, and the physical properties of the cell, including its membrane tension. We find in our model both highly persistent trajectories, in which the cell crawls in a straight line, and turning trajectories, where the cell transitions from crawling in a line to crawling in a circle. We discuss the controlling variables for this turning instability and argue that turning arises from a coupling between the reaction-diffusion mechanism and the shape of the cell. This emphasizes the surprising features that can arise from simple links between cell mechanics and biochemistry. Our results suggest that similar instabilities may be present in a broad class of biochemical descriptions of cell polarity.

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  • Received 25 August 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.95.012401

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Brian A. Camley1,*, Yanxiang Zhao2,*, Bo Li3, Herbert Levine4, and Wouter-Jan Rappel1

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
  • 2Department of Mathematics, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
  • 3Department of Mathematics and Graduate Program in Quantitative Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
  • 4Department of Bioengineering, Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA

  • *Refer to the last sentence of the Acknowledgments.

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 1 — January 2017

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