Senior Project Advisor
Tilmann Glimm
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Winter 2023
Keywords
Synchronization, Cellular Potts Model, Internal Oscillator, Swarming, Mathematical Biology, Cellular Automata
Abstract
Similar to how neurons synchronize their firing in the brain, individual cells of certain single-celled species can synchronize their internal oscillatory molecular clocks to those of their neighboring cells. This study develops and analyzes an abstract, discrete agent-based computational model to investigate the movement and synchronization of internal oscillators in biological cells. We adapt a Cellular Potts Model to explore this oscillator synchronization process with two-dimensional cells on a square lattice. Model assumptions are motivated by behavior in single-celled species of slime mold (Dictyostelium discoideum) and slime bacteria (myxobacteria). The effects of the spatial attraction parameter and the neighboring clock coordination parameter on oscillator synchronization are explored in this project. Results include the identification and examination of four steady phase states (global synchronization, local synchronization, incoherence, and anti-synchronization) through phase diagrams, synchronization, and cell movement analyses. The research findings of this project are applicable to pattern formation in cell cultures.
Department
Mathematics
Recommended Citation
Una, Rose, "Biological Oscillator Synchronization with the Cellular Potts Model" (2023). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 645.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/645
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Poster to accompany paper