Various bifurcations in the development of stem cells

Abstract

Cell development from an undifferentiated stem cell to a differentiated one is essential in forming an organism. In this paper, various bifurcations of a stem cell during this process are studied using a model based on Furusawa and Kaneko’s hypothesis. Furusawa and Kaneko’s hypothesis tells that the gene expression of stem cells is chaotic. By developing to a differentiated cell, the gene expression in more order, which is the cause of losing pluripotency. In this model, the chaotic dynamics of gene expression in the stem cells become ordered during the developments. Various patterns and bifurcation points can be seen during development. The bifurcation points and their predictions during the process of cell development are studied in this paper. Some well-known critical slowing down indicators are used to show the variations of slowness during the cell’s development and predict the bifurcation points. It is vital since the unexpected changes of the state can cause a disaster. All of the indicators have a proper trend by approaching the bifurcation points and faring away.