Cell signaling is essential for cell fate determination and tissue patterning. As signaling ligands are presented to the receiving cell, they are recruited and recognized by the cell membrane so as to elicit a biological response and to pattern multicellular tissues. Cells can accumulate and transport these ligands, which results in an emergent organization of the ligands’ spatial distribution. To study this organization, we make use of a simplified experimental setup, in which single mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) can interact with immobilized ligands. We introduce a two-species age-dependent correlation function that allows the description and quantification of the spatiotemporal dynamics of single cell-ligand interactions. Through the analysis of mESC data and numerical simulations, we show that cells act as effective force-field generators, perturbing and organizing their environment. This organization, captured in the form of an aging effective potential, is an emergent property of the population of single cells interacting with randomly distributed localized ligands.

中文翻译：

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单干细胞与局部配体之间相互作用的有效电位描述

细胞信号对于确定细胞命运和组织模式至关重要。当信号配体呈现给接收细胞时，它们被细胞膜募集并被识别，从而引发生物学反应并构图多细胞组织。细胞可以积累和运输这些配体，从而导致配体的空间分布出现新的组织。为了研究这种组织，我们利用简化的实验设置，其中单个小鼠胚胎干细胞（mESCs）可以与固定的配体相互作用。我们介绍了两种依赖于年龄的相关函数，该函数允许描述和量化单个细胞-配体相互作用的时空动力学。通过对mESC数据的分析和数值模拟，我们证明了细胞可作为有效的力场发生器，扰乱和组织他们的环境。以衰老有效电位的形式捕获的这种组织是与随机分布的局部配体相互作用的单细胞群体的新兴特性。