A cell size threshold limits cell polarity and asymmetric division potential.

ABSTRACT: Reaction-diffusion networks underlie pattern formation in a range of biological contexts, from morphogenesis of organisms to the polarisation of individual cells. One requirement for such molecular networks is that output patterns be scaled to system size. At the same time, kinetic properties of constituent molecules constrain the ability of networks to adapt to size changes. Here we explore these constraints and the consequences thereof within the conserved PAR cell polarity network. Using the stem cell-like germ lineage of the C. elegans embryo as a model, we find that the behaviour of PAR proteins fails to scale with cell size. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that this lack of scaling results in a size threshold below which polarity is destabilized, yielding an unpolarized syst

SUBMITTER: Hubatsch L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6774796 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature