ArticleScientific reports2014
Memory improves precision of cell sensing in fluctuating environments.
Article in Scientific reports, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- How memory and adaptation cost shape cell phenotypic dynamics in response to fluctuating environments.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Persistent pseudopod splitting is an effective chemotaxis strategy in shallow gradients.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Learning optimal integration of spatial and temporal information in noisy chemotaxis.PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Short-time diffusive fluxes over membrane receptors yields the direction of a signalling source.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Migration of Microparticle-Containing Amoeba through Constricted Environments.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2020Article
- Persistent and polarized global actin flow is essential for directionality during cell migration.Nature cell biology · 2019Article
- A computational model for how cells choose temporal or spatial sensing during chemotaxis.PLoS computational biology · 2018Article
- The dynamic mechanism of noisy signal decoding in gene regulation.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Know the Single-Receptor Sensing Limit? Think Again.Journal of statistical physicsArticle
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Biological cells are often found to sense their chemical environment near the single-molecule detection limit. Surprisingly, this precision is higher than simple estimates of the fundamental physical limit, hinting towards active sensing strategies. In this work, we analyse the effect of cell memory, e.g. from slow biochemical processes, on the precision of sensing by cell-surface receptors. We derive analytical formulas, which show that memory significantly improves sensing in weakly fluctuating environments. However, surprisingly when memory is adjusted dynamically, the precision is always improved, even in strongly fluctuating environments. In support of this prediction we quantify the directional biases in chemotactic Dictyostelium discoideum cells in a flow chamber with alternating chemical gradients. The strong similarities between cell sensing and control engineering suggest universal problem-solving strategies of living matter.
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