Turing-like patterns can arise from purely bioelectric mechanisms

Turing-like patterns can potentially occur in non-neural (non-excitable) tissues through strictly bioelectric processes, without involving transcriptional (gene) regulation, cell migration, or traditional reaction-diffusion mechanisms. Small molecules that gate transmembrane ion channels are often charged and capable of passing through intercellular gap junctions, and their transport under the influence of trans-junction electric fields furnishes a bioelectric feedback loop. We develop an analytically tractable, circuit-based model of this phenomenon and show that it can lead to spontaneous formation of spatial patterns in ligand density and membrane voltage under physiologically plausible conditions. The process is distinct from Turing’s reaction-diffusion paradigm but closely analogous to the spontaneous formation of patterns in colonies of chemotactic bacteria.