Frequency-dependent chemolocation and chemotactic target selection

Nowak, Sarah; Chakrabarti, Buddhapriya; Chou, Tom; Gopinathan, Ajay

doi:10.1088/1478-3975/7/2/026003

Frequency-dependent chemolocation and chemotactic target selection

Nowak, Sarah; Chakrabarti, Buddhapriya; Chou, Tom; Gopinathan, Ajay

Authors

Sarah Nowak

Buddhapriya Chakrabarti

Tom Chou

Ajay Gopinathan

Abstract

Chemotaxis is typically modeled in the context of cellular motion toward a static, exogenous source of chemoattractant. Here we propose a time-dependent mechanism of chemotaxis in which a self-propelled particle (e.g. a cell) releases a chemical that diffuses to fixed particles (targets) and signals the production of a second chemical by these targets. The particle then moves up concentration gradients of this second chemical, analogous to diffusive echolocation. When one target is present, we describe probe release strategies that optimize travel of the cell to the target. In the presence of multiple targets, the one selected by the cell depends on the strength and, interestingly, on the frequency of probe chemical release. Although involving an additional chemical signaling step, our chemical 'pinging' hypothesis allows for greater flexibility in regulating target selection, as seen in a number of physical or biological realizations.

Citation

Nowak, S., Chakrabarti, B., Chou, T., & Gopinathan, A. (2010). Frequency-dependent chemolocation and chemotactic target selection. Physical Biology, 7(2), Article 026003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/7/2/026003

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jun 1, 2010
Deposit Date	Mar 7, 2011
Publicly Available Date	Jan 20, 2015
Journal	Physical Biology
Electronic ISSN	1478-3975
Publisher	IOP Publishing
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	7
Issue	2
Article Number	026003
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/7/2/026003