Patterns of cell signaling in one motile cell and many

Leah Edelstein-Keshet
Mathematics Department
The University of British Columbia

Cell motility is essential for the “seek and destroy pathogens” function of neutrophils (white blood cells of our immune system) and for closure of epithelial cell sheets in the healing of wounds. In my talk, I will describe some of the internal machinery in cells that organizes their directional motility, and our efforts to analyse this regulation using mathematical models. On the way, I will highlight some of the interesting patterns, both static and dynamic, observed inside cells, and survey methods used to understand those patterns.