Cooperative differentiation through clustering in multicellular populations

A. Koseska (1) , E. Ullner (2, 3, 4, 5) , E. Volkov (6) , J. Kurths (5, 7) , J. García-Ojalvo (4)

1 University of Potsdam = Universität Potsdam
2 University of Aberdeen
3 Institute of Medical Sciences
4 Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear
5 HU Berlin - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin = Humboldt University of Berlin = Université Humboldt de Berlin
6 Department of Theoretical Physics
7 PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

The coordinated development of multicellular organisms is driven by intercellular communication. Differentiation into diverse cell types is usually associated with the existence of distinct attractors of gene regulatory networks, but how these attractors emerge from cell-cell coupling is still an open question. In order to understand and characterize the mechanisms through which coexisting attractors arise in multicellular systems, here we systematically investigate the dynamical behavior of a population of synthetic genetic oscillators coupled by chemical means. Using bifurcation analysis and numer-ical simulations, we identify various attractors and attempt to deduce from these findings a way to predict the organized collective behavior of growing populations. Our results show that dynamical clustering is a generic property of multicellular systems. We argue that such clustering might provide a basis for functional differentiation and variability in biological systems.

Mots clés: Multicellular systems; Clustering; Collective behavior; Inhibitory cell-to-cell communication; Cellular differentiation

A. Koseska, E. Ullner, E. Volkov, J. Kurths, J. García-Ojalvo. Cooperative differentiation through clustering in multicellular populations. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2010, 263 (2), pp.189. ⟨10.1016/j.jtbi.2009.11.007⟩. ⟨hal-00566753⟩