Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics, University of Göttingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.
PLoS One. 2018 Mar 28;13(3):e0194859. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194859. eCollection 2018.
We report experimental and numerical results on pattern formation of self-organizing Dictyostelium discoideum cells in a microfluidic setup under a constant buffer flow. The external flow advects the signaling molecule cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) downstream, while the chemotactic cells attached to the solid substrate are not transported with the flow. At high flow velocities, elongated cAMP waves are formed that cover the whole length of the channel and propagate both parallel and perpendicular to the flow direction. While the wave period and transverse propagation velocity are constant, parallel wave velocity and the wave width increase linearly with the imposed flow. We also observe that the acquired wave shape is highly dependent on the wave generation site and the strength of the imposed flow. We compared the wave shape and velocity with numerical simulations performed using a reaction-diffusion model and found excellent agreement. These results are expected to play an important role in understanding the process of pattern formation and aggregation of D. discoideum that may experience fluid flows in its natural habitat.
我们报告了在恒定缓冲液流动下的微流控装置中，自我组织的盘基网柄菌细胞的模式形成的实验和数值结果。外部流动将信号分子环腺苷酸（cAMP）向下游输送，而附着在固体基质上的趋化细胞不会随流动一起输送。在高流速下，形成了长形的 cAMP 波，这些波覆盖了整个通道的长度，并沿流动方向平行和垂直传播。虽然波的周期和横向传播速度是恒定的，但平行波速度和波宽随施加的流速线性增加。我们还观察到，获得的波形状高度依赖于波的产生位置和施加的流速。我们将波的形状和速度与使用反应扩散模型进行的数值模拟进行了比较，发现两者吻合得非常好。这些结果有望在理解盘基网柄菌的模式形成和聚集过程中发挥重要作用，因为盘基网柄菌在其自然栖息地可能会经历流体流动。
