title: Cyclic AMP oscillations in suspensions of Dictyostelium discoideum.
abstract: A model developed previously for signal relay and adaptation in the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum is shown to account for the observed oscillations of calcium and cyclic AMP in cellular suspensions. A qualitative argument is given which explains how the oscillations arise, and numerical computations show how characteristics such as the period and amplitude of the periodic solutions depend on parameters in the model. Several extensions of the basic model are investigated, including the effect of cell aggregation and the effect of time delays in the activation and adaptation processes. The dynamics of mixed cell populations in which only a small fraction of the cells are capable of autonomous oscillation are also studied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Delaware, Newark 19716.
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Monk
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Othmer
mesh_terms: D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases / Q000378:metabolism; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008433:Mathematics; D008962:Models, Theoretical
chemical_list: D000242:Cyclic AMP; D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases