A PDE model for bleb formation and interaction with linker proteins

TL;DR

This paper develops a mathematical PDE model for cell bleb formation involving membrane-linker protein interactions, analyzing its properties and validating it through numerical simulations that align with experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel coupled reaction-diffusion and fluid dynamics model for bleb formation, with detailed analysis and numerical validation.

Findings

Model reproduces experimental bleb initiation results

Analysis of singular limits connects to existing models

Numerical simulations confirm model's predictive capability

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to further develop mathematical models for bleb formation in cells, including cell-membrane interactions with linker proteins. This leads to nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations on a surface coupled to fluid dynamics in the bulk. We provide a detailed mathematical analysis and investigate some singular limits of the model, connecting it to previous literature. Moreover, we provide numerical simulations in different scenarios, confirming that the model can reproduce experimental results on bleb initation.