Reconstruction of cellular variability from spatiotemporal patterns of Dictyostelium discoideum.

ABSTRACT: Variability in cell properties can be an important driving mechanism behind spatiotemporal patterns in biological systems, as the degree of cell-to-cell differences determines the capacity of cells to locally synchronize and, consequently, form patterns on a larger spatial scale. In principle, certain features of spatial patterns emerging with time may be regulated by variability or, more specifically, by certain constellations of cell-to-cell differences. Similarly, measuring variability in a system (i.e. the spatial distribution of cell-cell differences) may help predict properties of later-stage patterns.Here we apply and compare different statistical methods of extracting such systematic cell-to-cell differences in the case of patterns generated with a simple model system of an excitab

SUBMITTER: Hilgardt C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2034575 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature