Self-similar dynamics of morphogen gradients.

Publication Year
2011

Type

Journal Article
Abstract

Morphogen gradients are concentration fields of molecules acting as spatial regulators of cell differentiation in developing tissues and play a fundamental role in various aspects of embryonic development. We discovered a family of self-similar solutions in a canonical class of nonlinear reaction-diffusion models describing the formation of morphogen gradients. These solutions are realized in the limit of infinitely high production rate at the tissue boundary and are given by the product of the steady state concentration profile and a function of the diffusion similarity variable. We solved the boundary value problem for the similarity profile numerically and analyzed the implications of the discovered self-similarity on the dynamics of morphogenetic patterning.

Journal
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
Volume
84
Issue
4 Pt 1
Pages
041916
Date Published
10/2011
Alternate Journal
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys