A cAMP Signaling Model Explains the Benefit of Maintaining Two Forms of Phosphodiesterase in Dictyostelium

Starving Dictyostelium cells respond chemotactically to cell-generated waves of cyclic adenosine −3′,5′- monophosphate (cAMP) that guide cell aggregation toward a signaling center. In this process, a large number of cells are recruited, resulting in the formation of aggregation territories that are essential for fruiting body formation. The enzyme PdsA phosphodiesterase (PDE), a crucial component of the signaling system, breaks down the external cAMP and can be either membrane-bound or secreted. The existence of two such forms is unusual in cell biology, and it remains to be determined why they have both been maintained through evolution. Here, using a model of the cAMP signaling system, I show that colonies can successfully organize into aggregates over a wider range of initial cell densities when both forms of PDE are present in an appropriately tuned ratio than when only a single form is present. The model indicates that membrane-bound PDE maintains aggregation-territory integrity in colonies with high initial cell density, whereas the secreted form is important for wave propagation at low cell densities. Thus, the ultimate retention of both forms can increase territory size. These findings have implications for other excitable media, including Ca2+ propagation in cardiac cells and propagation of electrical excitation in nerve axons, since these systems have similar features of spatial nonuniform “release” and “degradation” of the relevant signals.