A mathematical modelling study of chemotactic dynamics in cell cultures: the impact of spatio-temporal heterogeneity (Q6053048)

The authors introduce a model is on the cellular motility driven by spatiotemporal chemotactic gradients in microdevice and observe various profiles of chemotaxis waves in heterogeneous fields of chemoattractant, such as oscillation back and forth in time In the dimensionless form this model is given by \begin{align*} & u_t=(\Pi_1 u_x-\Pi_2uv_x)_x+m(v)u(1-u)\\ & v_t=(\Pi_xv_x)_x+\Pi_4w(v,u) \tag{1} \end{align*} with the zero flux boundary condition, where \(u\) and \(v\) are due to the cell population and concentration of the agent, respectively. Then system (1) is reduced to \[ u_t+ (\alpha(x,t)u)_x=\beta(x,t)u(1-u) \tag{2} \] through \[ u_t+k(v_xu)_x=m(v)u(1-u), \quad v_{xx}=0, \] fir small diffusion, where inhomogeneous boundary condition to \(v\). The single equation (2) is studied by the methods of characteristic curves and matched asymptotic expansion. A variety of profiles of the solution, different from the classical travelling waves, are observed by theoretically and numerically, according as the forms of \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\).