Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 25: Cell Mechanics II

BP 25.6: Talk

Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 16:30–16:45, HÜL 386

Mechano-chemical interactions in a one-dimensional description of intracellular reaction-diffusion systems — •Alexander Ziepke and Erwin Frey — Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany

The understanding of self-organization processes in biological systems represents a key challenge in the field of theoretical biology. There are various studies on reaction-diffusion (RD) models in a single spatial dimension (1D) that give insights on the fundamental behavior of pattern formation in biological systems [1]. However, effects of a spatial confinement, e.g. the cell geometry, are not captured by most of the 1D models. With our new approach we bridge this gap between biological systems in a spatio-temporally varying confinement and simple 1D-RD equations. On the basis of an asymptotic perturbation analysis, we reduce the dimensionality of the confined system [2]. The resulting description incorporates the effects of mechano-chemical coupling and, therefore, extends significantly the applicability of 1D models beyond free dynamics on straight lines. Studying the derived equation for mass-conserving RD systems with interacting membrane-bound and cytosolic species, we find conditions for geometry induced pattern formation. Moreover, mechano-chemical interactions can lead to a feedback between RD kinetics and a deformation of the cell membrane, giving rise to a variety of interesting phenomena.

[1] J. Halatek and E. Frey, Nat. Phys., 14, 507 (2018)

[2] A. Ziepke, S. Martens, and H. Engel, J. Chem. Phys., 145, 094108 (2016)