A continuous-time model of centrally coordinated motion with random switching (Q510519)

The authors study differential problems with random switching. Their main focus is a force-based model for cell movement in the presence of integrin-based adhesion sites. This so-called continuous-time centroid model (CTCM) is obtained from a differential equation model when the relaxation time is set to zero. The authors prove that the CTCM is well posed and corresponds to a pure jump-type Markov process. Moreover, they analyze the large time behavior and prove a formula for the expectation of the cell velocity by using the connection between CTCM and a finite-state system. In addition, the theoretical results are compared with numerical results for the average cell velocity.