Evaluation Summary:
This paper addresses how cells can robustly maintain direction during movement by ignoring noise in concentration gradients while also being able to adapt to new signals in those gradients. The authors study this tension in EGFR signaling by postulating a form of cellular memory in a theoretical framework based on dynamical systems and bifurcation theory. The authors also carry out experiments that raise interesting unresolved questions. This paper will be of interest to scientists of all stripes working on cell motility and for theorists who take a dynamical systems view of biological phenomena.
(This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)