Dynamic intercellular transport modulates the spatial patterning of differentiation during early neural commitment.

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Chad M. Glen, Georgia Institute of Technology; Todd C. McDevitt, Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease; Melissa Kemp, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-10-05
• Publisher: Nature Research (part of Springer Nature): Fully open access journals
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2018
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06693-1
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nature Communications
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 4111
• End Page: 4111
• Grant/Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge funding to M.L.K. and T.C.M. from NSF Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems Science and Technology Center (CBET 0939511), and a graduate research fellowship to C.M.G. from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
• Keywords: multicellular systems; dynamic networks; stem-cell differentiation; neural commitment; pattern formation; computational modeling
• Research Categories: Engineering, Biomedical; Biology, Cell

Abstract

The initiation of heterogeneity within a population of phenotypically identical progenitors is a critical event for the onset of morphogenesis and differentiation patterning. Gap junction communication within multicellular systems produces complex networks of intercellular connectivity that result in heterogeneous distributions of intracellular signaling molecules. In this study, we investigate emergent systems-level behavior of the intercellular network within embryonic stem cell (ESC) populations and corresponding spatial organization during early neural differentiation. An agent-based model incorporates experimentally-determined parameters to yield complex transport networks for delivery of pro-differentiation cues between neighboring cells, reproducing the morphogenic trajectories during retinoic acid-accelerated mouse ESC differentiation. Furthermore, the model correctly predicts the delayed differentiation and preserved spatial features of the morphogenic trajectory that occurs in response to intercellular perturbation. These findings suggest an integral role of gap junction communication in the temporal coordination of emergent patterning during early differentiation and neural commitment of pluripotent stem cells.