Information-Theoretical Measures for Developmental Cell-Fate Proportioning Processes

Abstract: Self-organization is a fundamental process of complex biological systems, particularly during the early stages of development. In the mammalian embryo, blastocyst formation exemplifies a self-organized system, involving the correct spatio-temporal segregation of three distinct cell fates: trophectoderm (TE), epiblast (EPI), and primitive endoderm (PRE). Despite the significance of this class of processes, quantifying the information content of self-organizing patterning systems remains challenging due to the complexity and the qualitative diversity of developmental mechanisms. In this study, we applied a recently proposed information-theoretical framework which quantifies the self-organization potential of cell-fate patterning systems, employing a utility function that integrates (local) positional information and (global) correlational information extracted from developmental pattern ensembles. Specifically, we examined a stochastic and spatially resolved simulation model of EPI-PRE lineage proportioning, evaluating its information content across various simulation scenarios with different numbers of system cells. To overcome the computational challenges hindering the application of this novel framework, we developed a mathematical strategy that indirectly maps the low-dimensional cell-fate counting probability space to the high-dimensional cell-fate patterning probability space, enabling the estimation of self-organization potential for general cell-fate proportioning processes. Overall, this novel information-theoretical framework provides a promising, universal approach for quantifying self-organization in developmental biology. By formalizing measures of self-organization, the employed quantification framework offers a valuable tool for uncovering insights into the underlying principles of cell-fate specification and the emergence of complexity in early developmental systems.