Authors

Rose Una

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

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Synchronization; Computational biology; Biomathematics; Cellular automata

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

Una poster.PDF (6911 kB)
Poster to accompany paper

Included in

Mathematics Commons

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