Coexistence and coupling of Min protein patterns in heterogenous systems

In the past two decades, the Min protein system has been established as paradigmatic model system for self-organized protein pattern formation. Much of this success is owned to the advances made in the reconstitution of Min protein patterns in vitro, which allowed precise control over experimental conditions and thereby the pattern forming phenomena. However, up until recently a theoretical description for in vitro Min protein patterns has been missing. Lately, we proposed a novel theoretical framework for pattern formation in mass-conserved reaction-diffusion systems [1]. One of the key predictions are transitions between chaotic, standing, and travelling wave patterns induced by variations in the system geometry or protein numbers. Here, we present the first experimental confirmation of these predictions. An extension of the theoretical framework enables us to forecast the entire time evolution of patterns and their dynamic transitions in systems with heterogeneous geometry or kinetic parameters. Strikingly, the theory predicts the coexistence of patterns in large heterogeneous systems, which we confirm experimentally.

[1] J. Halatek and E. Frey, “Rethinking pattern formation in reaction-diffusion systems”, Nature Physics, 2018