Cilia Coordination

Cilia are cellular micro-organelles that organize and coordinate their activity to drive flows. Despite the importance of cilia coordination to biological function, a general understanding of this structure-to-function mapping remains lacking. For example, in microbes that use cilia for locomotion, the existence of multiple coordination states is important to perform distinct swimming and turning gaits. In contrast, ciliated tissues in the human lungs, brains, and reproductive tracts are specialized to pump fluids, and this specialization can be compromised if multiple states of cilia coordination co-exist.

Here, I will analyze cilia coordination in in-silico experiments and theoretical models reflecting two extremes of pairs and infinite numbers cilia. I will show results that suggest that functional specificity — and coordination states —  are interlaced with the architecture of the ciliary system.