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. 2012 Mar 1;8(3):e1002402. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002402

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Marée et al.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.

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Shown are Cdc42 distribution profiles at indicated times using the colour scheme as in Fig. 2. (a) (and Video S2) Effect of cell shape on repolarization in the presence (, left) and absence (, right) of feedback from PIs to Rho GTPases. Cells with elliptical, static shape are initially polarized along their short axis using the standard, transient gradient protocol. Due to their shape alone (with no further stimulus or bias), there is a clear tendency for the cells to repolarize. The dynamics of shape-induced repolarization occurs much more rapidly when PI feedback is included. (b) Static circular cell in which the intracellular profiles have been modified into a highly curved profile. Over time, the curvature of the front-back interface flattens (with regions of higher curvature changing faster). (c) Local injection of Cdc42 appears to locally distort the intracellular interface, which then straightens again. Shape-sensitivity and robustness to local perturbations can be understood through the tendency of the reaction-diffusion system to minimize the front-back interface. The no-flux boundary conditions further assure that the all level curves (interfaces) maintain right-angles to the cell membrane. For the dynamics of (b,c), see also Video S3.

Inline graphic — Shown are Cdc42 distribution profiles at indicated times using the colour scheme as in Fig. 2. (a) (and Video S2) Effect of cell shape on repolarization in the presence (, left) and absence (, right) of feedback from PIs to Rho GTPases. Cells with elliptical, static shape are initially polarized along their short axis using the standard, transient gradient protocol. Due to their shape alone (with no further stimulus or bias), there is a clear tendency for the cells to repolarize. The dynamics of shape-induced repolarization occurs much more rapidly when PI feedback is included. (b) Static circular cell in which the intracellular profiles have been modified into a highly curved profile. Over time, the curvature of the front-back interface flattens (with regions of higher curvature changing faster). (c) Local injection of Cdc42 appears to locally distort the intracellular interface, which then straightens again. Shape-sensitivity and robustness to local perturbations can be understood through the tendency of the reaction-diffusion system to minimize the front-back interface. The no-flux boundary conditions further assure that the all level curves (interfaces) maintain right-angles to the cell membrane. For the dynamics of (b,c), see also Video S3.