Title: Mathematical models of self-organized patterning of stem cells
Speaker: Prajakta Bedekar (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Abstract: Development of an organism from a single celled zygote is a highly complicated process which consists of division of cells and specialized differentiation. Due to the difficulties posed by direct observations in vivo, mathematical modeling is an important component of studies concerning embryonic development. I will describe a reaction-diffusion model for the activator-inhibitor cascade including biochemical activators such as BMP4, Wnt, Nodal and their inhibitors. Robin boundary conditions help effectively model the physical realities of the system. Numerical simulations are used to study these reaction diffusion systems using finite element approximations. I will also present a theoretical proof of the existence and stability of steady state solutions for a specialized activator-inhibitor system, subject to certain sufficient conditions on the data of the problem. This talk is based on joint work with Dr Mikhail Perepelitsa and Dr Ilya Timofeyev.
URL associated with Seminar: https://research.math.osu.edu/pde/
