Neuron Growth Control by PDE Backstepping: Axon Length Regulation by Tubulin Flux Actuation in Soma

Abstract: In this work, stabilization of an axonal growth in a neuron associated with the dynamics of tubulin concentration is proposed by designing a boundary control. The dynamics are given by a parabolic Partial Differential Equation (PDE) of the tubulin concentration, with a spatial domain of the axon's length governed by an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) coupled with the tubulin concentration in the growth cone. We propose a novel backstepping method for the coupled PDE-ODE dynamics with a moving boundary, and design a control law for the tubulin concentration flux in the soma. Through employing the Lyapunov analysis to a nonlinear target system, we prove a local exponential stability of the closed-loop system under the proposed control law in the spatial $H_1$-norm.