Alonso Albert, Endres Robert G, Kirkegaard Julius B
Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Imperial College, Department of Life Sciences and Centre for Integrative Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, London, United Kingdom.
Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Apr 18;134(15):158401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.158401.
Spatial information from cell-surface receptors is crucial for processes that require signal processing and sensing of the environment. Here, we investigate the optimal placement of such receptors through a theoretical model that minimizes uncertainty in gradient estimation. Without requiring a priori knowledge of the physical limits of sensing or biochemical processes, we reproduce the emergence of clusters that closely resemble those observed in real cells. On perfect spherical surfaces, optimally placed receptors spread uniformly. When perturbations break their symmetry, receptors cluster in regions of high curvature, massively reducing estimation uncertainty. This agrees in many scenarios with mechanistic models that minimize elastic preference discrepancies between receptors and cell membranes. We further extend our model to motile receptors responding to cell-shape changes and external fluid flow, demonstrating the biological relevance of our model. Our findings provide a simple and utilitarian explanation for receptor clustering at high-curvature regions when high sensing accuracy is paramount.
来自细胞表面受体的空间信息对于需要信号处理和环境感知的过程至关重要。在此，我们通过一个理论模型来研究此类受体的最佳布局，该模型可将梯度估计中的不确定性降至最低。无需事先了解传感或生化过程的物理极限，我们就能重现与真实细胞中观察到的极为相似的簇的出现。在完美的球形表面上，最佳布局的受体均匀分布。当扰动打破其对称性时，受体聚集在高曲率区域，从而大幅降低估计不确定性。在许多情况下，这与使受体和细胞膜之间的弹性偏好差异最小化的机制模型相符。我们进一步将模型扩展到响应细胞形状变化和外部流体流动的运动受体，证明了我们模型的生物学相关性。当高传感精度至关重要时，我们的研究结果为高曲率区域的受体聚集提供了一个简单而实用的解释。
