Noise-driven cell differentiation and the emergence of spatiotemporal patterns.

Hadiseh Safdari,Mehdi Sadeghi,Bahram Goliaei,Rouzbeh Tusserkani,Ata Kalirad,Cristian Picioreanu,Cristina Pina

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0232060

Abstract

The emergence of phenotypic diversity in a population of cells and their arrangement in space and time is one of the most fascinating features of living systems. In fact, understanding multicellularity is unthinkable without explaining the proximate and the ultimate causes of cell differentiation in time and space. Simpler forms of cell differentiation can be found in unicellular organisms, such as bacterial biofilm, where reversible cell differentiation results in phenotypically diverse populations. In this manuscript, we attempt to start with the simple case of reversible nongenetic phenotypic to construct a model of differentiation and pattern formation. Our model, which we refer to as noise-driven differentiation (NDD) model, is an attempt to consider the prevalence of noise in biological systems, alongside what is known about genetic switches and signaling, to create a simple model which generates spatiotemporal patterns from bottom-up. Our simulations indicate that the presence of noise in cells can lead to reversible differentiation and the addition of signaling can create spatiotemporal pattern.

Highlights

The traditional idea of a living cell where every organelle, every reaction, and every interaction is part of a clock-like order has long been shattered by the understanding that biological systems usually struggle to function in noisy environments
To further illustrate how each source of noise affects the cell differentiation, we focused on each source separately in the simulations
One can imagine a few genes involved in cell fate determination, where the noise in the cell affects the proportion of daughter cells born with a certain phenotype

Summary

Introduction

The traditional idea of a living cell where every organelle, every reaction, and every interaction is part of a clock-like order has long been shattered by the understanding that biological systems usually struggle to function in noisy environments. One might consider life to be an uphill battle against pandemonium, where disarray is the norm and spheres of order—i.e., biological systems—are rarities that are unlikely to appear in the first place. In this view, noise is a nuisance that natural selection always attempts to eliminate. A different view has recently gained some grounds [2,3,4,5]. In this view, biological systems that regulate and utilize the noise can have higher fitness under certain circumstances.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion