Analysis of the singularity cells controlling the pattern formation of multicellular system

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Singularity biology
• Project/Area Number: 18H05415
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: HORIKAWA Kazuki 徳島大学, 先端研究推進センター, 教授 (70420247)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 竹本 龍也 徳島大学, 先端酵素学研究所, 教授 (30443899)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 自己組織化 / 生物物理 / cAMP / パターン形成 / ゲノム編集

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Developmental pattern formation is an excellent model of singularity phenomena. By using a newly developed transscale scope, we investigated the onset dynamics of collective signaling in the population of chemotacting cells at 1-cell resolution. A large-scale 1-cell tracking revealed that the cell population is highly heterogeneous in their signal-relaying ability where a small number of cells, called leaders and followers, functioned as a signal initiator and amplifier, respectively. Our mathematical simulation incorporating experimentally observed features demonstrated that such cellular heterogeneity is the key determinant to developing the spiral-shaped signaling pattern, whose initiation mechanisms have remained long elusive. Associated development of new technologies, such as a semi-automated detection of signaling cells and optical highlighters for leaders and followers, would benefit the analysis of other models for singularity phenomena in physiological and pathological cases.

Free Research Field

発生生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

研究開始時には「システム全体の挙動がレア細胞に支配される」というシンギュラリティ現象は作業仮説でしかなかったが、本件研究によって細胞集団内に大事でレアな細胞の存在すること、こうしたレア細胞の挙動が細胞集団システム全体の挙動を大きく変えることが明らかになった点において大きな学術的意義がある。本研究により確かめられたシンギュラリティ現象は、正常発生における様々なパターン形成や、がんや神経変性などの疾患にも関与する可能性がある。様々なシンギュラリティ研究を加速させうる様々な基盤技術を開発できたは大きな社会的な意義を有するといえる。