Genetically identical cells can adopt distinct, stable states, playing a crucial role in development and tissue organisation. This talk explores the mechanisms driving cell fate decisions, focusing on the interplay between gene regulatory networks and cell-to-cell communication. Using spatial stochastic models that capture fine-scale regulatory dynamics, we demonstrate how feedback loops and paracrine signalling function as switch-like controllers of cell fate, enabling transitions from transient to stable states. We derive mathematical expressions predicting the threshold signalling strength required to trigger phase transitions and establish a fundamental limit on the spatial spread of phenotypic regions. Specifically, we show that the mean region size scales proportionally to the cubic root of the signalling strength, implying that large, stable domains are prohibitively costly to maintain. This trade-off between robustness and signalling precision highlights the constraints organisms must navigate during development to maintain spatial organisation. Our findings provide key insights into the principles governing multicellular patterning and the regulation of tissue structure.
Contributed talk session: CT03
Friday, July 18 at 2:30pm
Contributed talk session: CT03
Timeblock: CT03
CDEV-01
CDEV Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
CDEV-01
- Lucy Ham The University of Melbourne "Cell fate control in space and time"
- Molly Brennan University College London "An asymptotic upscaling of transport across bacterial membranes"
- Augustinas Sukys The University of Melbourne "Cell-cycle dependence of bursty gene expression: insights from fitting mechanistic models to single-cell RNA-seq data"
- Elizabeth Trofimenkoff University of Lethbridge "Mathematical modeling of transcription-independent splicing events in human gene expression"
- Stéphanie Abo University of Oxford "Travelling waves in age-structured collective cell migration"
- Gordon R. McNicol University of Waterloo "Mechanotransducing structures promote self-driven cell surface patterning"
- Marc Roussel University of Lethbridge "The bacterial dimeric transcription factor NsrR: a case study of a regulatory protein with a large number of states"
- Paco Castaneda Ruan The University of Auckland "Exploring the role of Ca2+ influx in controlling competing oscillatory mechanisms in T cells using ODEs"
- Lynne Cherchia University of Southern California "A tale of trafficking: On prolactin receptor localization in pancreatic β-cells"
- Rebecca Crossley University of Oxford "Travelling waves of phenotypically structured cell populations migrating into extracellular matrix"
Timeblock: CT03
CDEV-02
CDEV Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
CDEV-02
- Gordon R. McNicol University of Waterloo "Mechanotransducing structures promote self-driven cell surface patterning"
- Marc Roussel University of Lethbridge "The bacterial dimeric transcription factor NsrR: a case study of a regulatory protein with a large number of states"
- Paco Castaneda Ruan The University of Auckland "Exploring the role of Ca2+ influx in controlling competing oscillatory mechanisms in T cells using ODEs"
- Lynne Cherchia University of Southern California "A tale of trafficking: On prolactin receptor localization in pancreatic β-cells"
- Rebecca Crossley University of Oxford "Travelling waves of phenotypically structured cell populations migrating into extracellular matrix"
Timeblock: CT03
ECOP-01
ECOP Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
ECOP-01
- Kim Cuddington University of Waterloo "Exploring the population impacts of climate change effects on the mean, variance and autocorrelation of temperature using thermal performance curves."
- Yves Dumont CIRAD/University of Pretoria "About the fight against the oriental fruit fly using a combination of non-chemical control tools - Mathematical strategy versus field strategy"
- Frank Hilker Osnabrueck University "A simple host-parasitoid model with Arnold tongues and shrimp-shaped periodic structures"
- Einar Bjarki Gunnarsson Science Institute, University of Iceland "The site frequency spectrum of an exponentially growing population: Theory and evolutionary history inference"
- Axa-Maria Laaperi Newcastle University "Quantifying the fires of the future: Modelling and inference of wildfire spread dynamics."
- Kaan Öcal University of Melbourne "Two sides of the same coin: Euler-Lotka and R0"
- Swati Patel Oregon State University "Epistasis and the Emergence of Evolutionary Capacitance"
- Pranali Roy Chowdhury University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada "A Qualitative Analysis Exploring the Hidden Threats of Methane to Ecosystems."
- Fabiana Russo University of Naples Federico II "Modeling biofilm growth and microbially induced corrosion in wastewater concrete pipes: a double free boundary problem"
- Anuraj Singh ABV-IIITM Gwalior, India "A modified May Holling Tanner Model: the role of dynamic alternative resources on species' survival"
- Beth Stokes University of Bath "Should I stay, or should I go: Sex ratio response drives a diverse range (anti-)correlated intra-species behaviours"
- Shohel Ahmed University of Alberta "Personality-Driven Consumer-Resource Dynamics"
- Sandip Banerjee Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee "Effect of productivity and seasonal variation on phytoplankton intermittency in a microscale ecological study using closure approach"
Timeblock: CT03
ECOP-02
ECOP Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
ECOP-02
- Kaan Öcal University of Melbourne "Two sides of the same coin: Euler-Lotka and R0"
- Swati Patel Oregon State University "Epistasis and the Emergence of Evolutionary Capacitance"
- Pranali Roy Chowdhury University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada "A Qualitative Analysis Exploring the Hidden Threats of Methane to Ecosystems."
- Fabiana Russo University of Naples Federico II "Modeling biofilm growth and microbially induced corrosion in wastewater concrete pipes: a double free boundary problem"
- Anuraj Singh ABV-IIITM Gwalior, India "A modified May Holling Tanner Model: the role of dynamic alternative resources on species' survival"
Timeblock: CT03
ECOP-03
ECOP Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
ECOP-03
- Beth Stokes University of Bath "Should I stay, or should I go: Sex ratio response drives a diverse range (anti-)correlated intra-species behaviours"
- Shohel Ahmed University of Alberta "Personality-Driven Consumer-Resource Dynamics"
- Sandip Banerjee Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee "Effect of productivity and seasonal variation on phytoplankton intermittency in a microscale ecological study using closure approach"
Timeblock: CT03
IMMU-01
IMMU Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
IMMU-01
- Jonah Hall UBC "Optimization of Pertussis Immunization Using Mathematical Models"
- Adnan Khan Lahore University of Management Sciences "Antibiotic Resistance and Dosing in Bacterial Biofilms"
- Peter Rashkov Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, Bulgaria "Towards a mathematical model of the methotrexate effect on immunogenicity to adalimumab in axial spondyloarthritis"
Timeblock: CT03
MEPI-01
MEPI Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
MEPI-01
- Woldegebriel Assefa Woldegerima York University "The Mathematics of Deep Neural Networks with Application in Predicting the Spread of Avian Influenza Through Disease-Informed Neural Networks (DINNs)"
- Jongmin Lee Department of Mathematics, Konkuk University "How to Deal with the Health-economy Dilemma during a Pandemic: Research Framework and User-interactive Dashboard"
- Asa Rishel University of Maryland, College Park "Mind over matter: balancing the benefits of COVID lockdowns with their cost on mental health"
- Arsene Brice zotsa ngoufack Université du Québec à Montréal "Stochastic epidemic model with memory on the previous infection and with varying infectivity and waning immunity"
- Phoebe Asplin University of Warwick "Estimating the strength of symptom propagation from synthetic data"
- Emma Fairbanks University of warwick "Semi-field versus experimental hut trials: Comparing methods for novel insecticide-treated net evaluation for malaria control"
Timeblock: CT03
MEPI-02
MEPI Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
MEPI-02
- Emma Fairbanks University of warwick "Semi-field versus experimental hut trials: Comparing methods for novel insecticide-treated net evaluation for malaria control"
Timeblock: CT03
MFBM-01
MFBM Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
MFBM-01
- Silvia Berra IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy "In-silico modeling of simple enzyme kinetics: from Michaelis-Menten to microscopic rate constants"
- Ismaila Muhammed Khalifa University "Data-driven Construction of Reduced Size Models Using Computational Singular Perturbation Method."
- John Vastola Harvard University "Bayesian inference of chemical reaction network parameters given reaction degeneracy: an approximate analytic solution"
- Adelle Coster School of Mathematics & Statistics, UNSW, Sydney Australia "Cellular protein transport: Queuing models and parameter estimation in stochastic systems"
- Clark Kendrick Go Collaborative Analytics Group, Department of Mathematics, Ateneo de Manila University "Exploring Mathematical Techniques in Collective Behaviour and Decision Making in Animal Groups"
Timeblock: CT03
NEUR-01
NEUR Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
NEUR-01
- Brandon Imstepf University of California, Merced "Accelerating Solutions of Nonlinear PDEs Using Machine Learning: A Case Study with the Network Transport Model"
- Youngmin Park University of Florida "Phase Reduction of Heterogeneous Coupled Oscillators"
Timeblock: CT03
ONCO-01
ONCO Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
ONCO-01
- Siti Maghfirotul Ulyah Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates "Estimating the Growth Rate of Tumor Cells from Biopsy Samples Using an Extended Mean Field Approximation"
- Hooman Salavati Ghent University "Patient-Specific MRI-Integrated Computational Modeling of Tumor Fluid Dynamics and Drug Transport"
- Rachel Sousa University of California, Irvine "Identifying Critical Immunological Features of Tumor Control and Escape Using Mathematical Modeling"
- Simon Syga TUD Dresden University of Technology "Evolution of phenotypic plasticity leads to tumor heterogeneity with implications for therapy"
- Alexis Farman UCL (University College London) "Enhancing immunotherapies: Insights from the mathematical modelling of a microfluidic device"
- Magnus Haughey Barts Cancer Institute "Extrachromosomal DNA driven oncogene spatial heterogeneity and evolution in glioblastoma"
- Luke Heirene University of Oxford "Data Driven Mathematical Modelling Highlights the Impact of Bivalency on the Optimum Affinity for Monoclonal Antibody Therapies"
Timeblock: CT03
ONCO-02
ONCO Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
ONCO-02
- Magnus Haughey Barts Cancer Institute "Extrachromosomal DNA driven oncogene spatial heterogeneity and evolution in glioblastoma"
- Luke Heirene University of Oxford "Data Driven Mathematical Modelling Highlights the Impact of Bivalency on the Optimum Affinity for Monoclonal Antibody Therapies"
Timeblock: CT03
OTHE-01
OTHE Subgroup Contributed Talks
Timeblock: CT03
OTHE-01
- Ashlee Ford Versypt University at Buffalo, The State University of New York "A Multi-Cellular Network Model Predicts Changes in Glomerular Endothelial Structure in Diabetic Kidney Disease"
- Mojgan Ezadian Lindi Wahl, Western University "A Continuous-Time Stochastic Model for Mutation Effects in Microbial Population"