Scaling of morphogenetic patterns in reaction-diffusion systems

Development of multicellular organisms is commonly associated with the response of individual cells to concentrations of chemical substances called morphogens. Concentration fields of morphogens form a basis for biological patterning and ensure its properties including ability to scale with the size of the organism. While mechanisms underlying the formation of morphogen gradients are reasonably well understood, little is known about processes responsible for their scaling. Here, we perform a formal analysis of scaling for chemical patterns forming in continuous systems. We introduce a quantity representing the sensitivity of systems to changes in their size and use it to analyse scaling properties of patterns forming in a few different systems. Particularly, we consider how scaling properties of morphogen gradients forming in diffusion-decay systems depend on boundary conditions and how the scaling can be improved by passive modulation of morphogens or active transport in the system. We also analyse scaling of morphogenetic signal caused by two opposing gradients and consider scaling properties of patterns forming in activator–inhibitor systems. We conclude with a few possible mechanisms which allow scaling of morphogenetic patterns.