Eccentric motions of spiral cores in aggregates ofDictyosteliumcells

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Abstract
Siegert and Weijer presented evidence indicating the existence of spiral waves of cell migration induced by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in hemispherical aggregates (mounds) of Dictyostelium cells [Current Biol. 5, 937 (1995)]. Here I report experimental evidence of the eccentric motion of the spiral core in single mounds of the wild-type strain NC-4. I observed two types of motion of the spiral core. One type is a core shift, in which a spiral core initially situated at the center of a circular mound moves toward the circular boundary of the mound. Another type is a continuous drift of a spiral core along the circular boundary. To obtain some insights into the mechanism of the motion of the spiral cores, I perform a numerical simulation of spiral waves in two-dimensional excitable media with a circular boundary.