A Diffusion-approximation Approach to Model Self-organization of Nuclear Proteins

Abstract

The existence of domains within the cell nucleus enriched in specific proteins capable of moving randomly throughout the nucleoplasm has led to the biological conclusion that the cell nucleus is dynamically and highly organized. In this talk, we will illustrate how a diffusion-approximation approach can be used to describe a possible mechanism responsible for the dynamical organization of one type of these proteins enriched in nuclear domains, namely splicing factors. The approach is based on an individual random walk analysis that accounts for both motion and self-interaction, and leads to a partial differential equation that describes the dynamics of the population of splicing factors. Also, we will see how different assumptions at the individual level can affect the resulting diffusion-approximation model that describes the dynamics of the population.