title: Actomyosin regulation and symmetry breaking in a model of polarization in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo : symmetry breaking in cell polarization.
abstract: Polarization, whereby a cell defines a spatial axis by segregating specific determinants to distinct regions, is an essential and highly conserved biological process. The process of polarization is initiated by a cue that breaks an initially symmetric distribution of determinants, allowing for a spatially asymmetric redistribution. The nature of this cue is currently not well understood. Utilizing the conservation of polarization process and its determinants, we theoretically investigate the nature of the cue and the regulation of contractility that enables the establishment of polarity in early embryos of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Our biologically based model, which consists of coupled partial differential equations, suggests that a biochemical but not mechanical cue is sufficient for symmetry breaking, and inhibition of contractile elements by specific determinants is needed for sustained spatial redistribution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University, 231 West 18th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA, kravtsova.2@math.osu.edu.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kravtsova
authors.forename: Adriana T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Dawes
mesh_terms: D000205:Actomyosin / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016764:Cell Polarity; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D000205:Actomyosin