Optimal cellular mobility for synchronization arising from the gradual recovery of intercellular interactions

TL;DR

This study models how cell movement and gradual intercellular coupling recovery influence synchronization, revealing an optimal movement rate and a threshold beyond which synchronization cannot be achieved.

Contribution

It introduces a coupled phase oscillator model incorporating gradual coupling recovery, highlighting the importance of the ratio of movement to signaling recovery timescales.

Findings

Identifies an optimal cell moving rate for synchronization.

Finds a critical moving rate beyond which synchronization fails.

Shows that gradual coupling recovery limits the enhancement of synchrony by movement.

Abstract

Cell movement and intercellular signaling occur simultaneously during the development of tissues, but little is known about how movement affects signaling. Previous theoretical studies have shown that faster moving cells favor synchronization across a population of locally coupled genetic oscillators. An important assumption in these studies is that cells can immediately interact with their new neighbors after arriving at a new location. However, intercellular interactions in cellular systems may need some time to become fully established. How movement affects synchronization in this situation has not been examined. Here we develop a coupled phase oscillator model in which we consider cell movement and the gradual recovery of intercellular coupling experienced by a cell after movement, characterized by a moving rate and a coupling recovery rate respectively. We find (1) an optimal moving rate for synchronization, and (2) a critical moving rate above which achieving synchronization is not possible. These results indicate that the extent to which movement enhances synchrony is limited by a gradual recovery of coupling. These findings suggest that the ratio of time scales of movement and signaling recovery is critical for information transfer between moving cells.