Morphogen transport in epithelia

We present a general theoretical framework to discuss mechanisms of morphogen transport and gradient formation in a cell layer. Trafficking events on the cellular scale lead to transport on larger scales. We discuss in particular the case of transcytosis where morphogens undergo repeated rounds of i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 2007-01, Vol.75 (1 Pt 1), p.011901-011901, Article 011901
Main Authors: Bollenbach, T, Kruse, K, Pantazis, P, González-Gaitán, M, Jülicher, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Transport
Biophysics - methods
Cell Differentiation
Cell Membrane - metabolism
Diffusion
Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism
Drosophila Proteins - metabolism
Epithelium - metabolism
Kinetics
Ligands
Models, Chemical
Models, Statistical
Signal Transduction
Surface Properties
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Summary:We present a general theoretical framework to discuss mechanisms of morphogen transport and gradient formation in a cell layer. Trafficking events on the cellular scale lead to transport on larger scales. We discuss in particular the case of transcytosis where morphogens undergo repeated rounds of internalization into cells and recycling. Based on a description on the cellular scale, we derive effective nonlinear transport equations in one and two dimensions which are valid on larger scales. We derive analytic expressions for the concentration dependence of the effective diffusion coefficient and the effective degradation rate. We discuss the effects of a directional bias on morphogen transport and those of the coupling of the morphogen and receptor kinetics. Furthermore, we discuss general properties of cellular transport processes such as the robustness of gradients and relate our results to recent experiments on the morphogen Decapentaplegic (Dpp) that acts in the wing disk of the fruit fly Drosophila.
ISSN:1539-3755
1550-2376
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevE.75.011901