title: Does the potential for chaos constrain the embryonic cell-cycle oscillator?
abstract: Although many of the core components of the embryonic cell-cycle network have been elucidated, the question of how embryos achieve robust, synchronous cellular divisions post-fertilization remains unexplored. What are the different schemes that could be implemented by the embryo to achieve synchronization? By extending a cell-cycle model previously developed for embryos of the frog Xenopus laevis to include the spatial dimensions of the embryo, we establish a novel role for the rapid, fertilization-initiated calcium wave that triggers cell-cycle oscillations. Specifically, in our simulations a fast calcium wave results in synchronized cell cycles, while a slow wave results in full-blown spatio-temporal chaos. We show that such chaos would ultimately lead to an unpredictable patchwork of cell divisions across the embryo. Given this potential for chaos, our results indicate a novel design principle whereby the fast calcium-wave trigger following embryo fertilization synchronizes cell divisions.
authors.affiliation: Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: R Scott
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: McIsaac
authors.forename: Kerwyn Casey
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Anirvan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.forename: Ned S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Wingreen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology; D005306:Fertilization / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000196:embryology*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium