Intercellular communication induces glycolytic synchronization waves between individually oscillating cells

Metabolic oscillations in single cells underlie the mechanisms behind cell synchronization and cell-cell communication. For example, glycolytic mediated by biochemical communication between may synchronize pulsatile insulin secretion pancreatic tissue, a link anomalies type-2 diabetes has been hypotesized. Cultures of yeast have provided an ideal model system to study propagation waves large populations. However, mechanism which occurs at individual level overcome local chemical concentrations heterogenic biological clocks, is still open question because experimental limitations sensitive specific handling cells. Here, we show how coupling intercellular diffusion with phase regulation oscillating induce waves. We directly measure single-cell metabolic responses from microfluidic environment characterize discretized using graph theory. corroborate our findings simulations based on kinetic detailed for These can provide insight into roles cellular play biomedical applications, such as level.