Applications of a model for scale-invariant pattern formation in developing systems.
A fundamental problem in developmental biology concerns the proportioning of the developing tissue of a morphallactic system into different cell types in a way that is independent of the overall size of the tissue. The two main models for positional information in pattern formation, the source-sink models and the Turing reaction-diffusion models, have shortcomings that limit their applicability. In a previous paper, we described a model that can produce perfectly scale-invariant spatial patterns and analyzed some of its mathematical properties. In the present paper, we demonstrate some of the shortcomings of the standard reaction-diffusion models and discuss the applicability of our model to developmental systems.
D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000166:cytology; D004058:Diffusion; D006128:Growth; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological