Patch coalescence as a mechanism for eukaryotic directional sensing

Details Patch coalescence as a mechanism for eukaryotic directional sensing Patch coalescence as a mechanism for eukaryotic directional sensing

2008-10-30

arxiv.org/abs/0810.5409v1

Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 (2007) 158101

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.158101

Eukaryotic cells possess a sensible chemical compass allowing them to orient toward sources of soluble chemicals. The extracellular chemical signal triggers separation of the cell membrane into two domains populated by different phospholipid molecules and oriented along the signal anisotropy. We propose a theory of this polarization process, which is articulated into subsequent stages of germ nucleation, patch coarsening and merging into a single domain. We find that the polarization time, $t_\epsilon$, depends on the anisotropy degree $\epsilon$ through the power law $t_\epsilon\propto \epsilon^{-2}$, and that in a cell of radius $R$ there should exist a threshold value $\epsilon_\mathrm{th}\propto R^{-1}$ for the smallest detectable anisotropy.

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