Megan Franke developed a multiscale hybrid model of cell-cell communication (with a deterministic cell-internal gene regulatory network and stochastic single-cell resolved signaling model). Through analysis of a large range of cell signaling topologies, we discovered that even subtle cell-cell communication can dramatically alter cell fate decision-making and result in heterogeneous distributions of hematopoietic cell types.
Our analysis also helps to resolve some controversies in the literature regarding myeloid cell fates controlled by the GATA1-PU.1 mutual inhibition loop. The preprint is available here.