Stochastic model of leukocyte chemosensory movement (Q1093591)

The goal of the paper is to examine a unifying hypothesis for the two modes of cell migration behaviour exhibited by leukocytes: random motility - the persistent random walk behaviour of cells in uniform concentrations of chemoattractants, and chemotaxis - the biased random walk of cells observed in gradients of chemoattractants. It is proposed that random motility is observed in macroscopically uniform concentrations because the cell perceives fluctuating gradients without a mean direction. The excepted response is an unbiased random walk characteristic of random motility. Chemotaxis is observed in macroscopic gradients because of perceived fluctuations in direction as well as magnitude around the mean gradient. The expected response is the biased random walk characteristic of chemotaxis. The model of the cell can be formalized as a deterministic transformation (receptor - singal transduction) and response (translation with turning) of a stochastic signal not coupled to the response. The modeling equations for the particular mechanisms employed in the general model constitute a stochastic differential system in the sense of Itô.