title: Travelling Waves of Cell Differentiation.
abstract: The paper is devoted to modelling of cell differentiation in an initially homogeneous cell population. The mechanism which provides coexistence of two cell lineages in the initially homogeneous cell population is suggested. If cell differentiation is initiated locally in space in the population of undifferentiated cells, it can propagate as a travelling wave converting undifferentiated cells into differentiated ones. We suggest a model of this process which takes into account intracellular regulation, extracellular regulation and different cell types. They include undifferentiated cells and two types of differentiated cells. When a cell differentiates, its choice between two types of differentiated cells is determined by the concentrations of intracellular proteins. Differentiated cells can either stimulate differentiation into their own cell lineage or into another cell lineage. In the case of the positive feedback, only one lineage of differentiated cells will finally appear. In the case of negative feedback, both of them can coexist. In this case a periodic spatial pattern emerges behind the wave.
authors.affiliation: Faculté des Sciences, University Hassan II of Casablanca, Casablanca, 20100, Maroc.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benmir
authors.affiliation: Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199178, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bessonov
authors.affiliation: Faculté des Sciences, University Hassan II of Casablanca, Casablanca, 20100, Maroc.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boujena
authors.affiliation: Institut Camille Jordan, UMR 5208 CNRS, University Lyon 1, 69622, Villeurbanne, France. volpert@math.univ-lyon1.fr.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Volpert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: Cell differentiation; Lineage choice; Pattern formation; Reaction-diffusion waves