A modeling framework describing the enzyme regulation of membrane lipids underlying gradient perception in Dictyostelium cells

Gradient perception describes the process by which information about the chemoattractant concentration field surrounding a cell is transformed into an internal signal which is responsible for directed cell motion. Recently, many important biochemical details in immobilized and mobile Dictyostelium cells have been uncovered regarding the roles of enzymes regulating phosphoinositide lipids on the cell membrane which are responsible for gradient perception. We report on a modeling framework that describes the relationship between the membrane concentration of the primary 3’phosphoinositide lipids and the enzymes which regulate them. The model takes the form of partial differential equations describing the membrane concentration of these lipids. Working within this framework, we describe mechanisms which can be responsible for spatial amplification of these lipids and which do not employ lipid–enzyme feedback. An analysis of a basic module underlying this process is also performed.