Reconstructing the gradient source position from steady-state fluxes to small receptors
Published version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Abstract
Recovering the position of a source from the fluxes of diffusing particles through small receptors allows a biological cell to determine its relative position, spatial localization and guide it to a final target. However, how a source can be recovered from point fluxes remains unclear. Using the Narrow Escape Time approach for an open domain, we compute the diffusion fluxes of Brownian particles generated by a steady-state gradient from a single source through small holes distributed on a surface in two dimensions. {We find that the location of a source can be recovered when there are at least 3 receptors and the source is positioned no further than 10 cell radii away}, but this condition is not necessary in a narrow strip. The present approach provides a computational basis for the first step of direction sensing of a gradient at a single cell level.
Description
Keywords
Journal Title
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
2045-2322
Volume Title
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/K032208/1)