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Fundamental Limits to Collective Concentration Sensing in Cell Populations

Sean Fancher and Andrew Mugler
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 078101 – Published 14 February 2017
Physics logo See Synopsis: Cell Sensing Improves in a Loose Crowd
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Abstract

The precision of concentration sensing is improved when cells communicate. Here we derive the physical limits to concentration sensing for cells that communicate over short distances by directly exchanging small molecules (juxtacrine signaling), or over longer distances by secreting and sensing a diffusive messenger molecule (autocrine signaling). In the latter case, we find that the optimal cell spacing can be large, due to a trade-off between maintaining communication strength and reducing signal cross-correlations. This leads to the surprising result that sparsely packed communicating cells sense concentrations more precisely than densely packed communicating cells. We compare our results to data from a wide variety of communicating cell types.

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  • Received 13 March 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.078101

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living Systems

Synopsis

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Cell Sensing Improves in a Loose Crowd

Published 14 February 2017

Cells that communicate with each other can measure chemical concentrations with higher precision if they spread out into a sparse configuration.  

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Authors & Affiliations

Sean Fancher and Andrew Mugler*

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

  • *amugler@purdue.edu

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 7 — 17 February 2017

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