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Cellular scale decision-making is modulated by the dynamics of signalling molecules and their diffusive trajectories from a source to small absorbing sites on the cellular surface. Diffusive capture problems which model this process are computationally challenging due to their complex geometry and mixed boundary conditions together with intrinsically long transients that occur before a particle is captured. This paper reports on a particle-based kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method that provides rapid accurate simulation of arrival statistics for (i) a half-space bounded by a surface with a finite collection of absorbing traps and (ii) the domain exterior to a convex cell, again with absorbing traps. We validate our method by replicating classical results and verifying some newly developed boundary homogenization theories and matched asymptotic expansions on capture rates. In the case of non-spherical domains, we describe a new shielding effect in which geometry can play a role in sharpening cellular estimates on the directionality of diffusive sources. 

An essential ability of many cell types is to detect stimuli in the form of shallow chemical gradients. Such cues may indicate the direction that new growth should occur, or the location of a mate. Amplification of these faint signals is due to intra-cellular mechanisms, while the cue itself is generated by the noisy arrival of signalling molecules to surface bound membrane receptors. We employ a new hybrid numerical-asymptotic technique coupling matched asymptotic analysis and numerical inverse Laplace transform to rapidly and accurately solve the parabolic exterior problem describing the dynamic diffusive fluxes to receptors. We observe that equilibration occurs on long timescales, potentially limiting the usefulness of steady-state quantities for localization at practical biological timescales. We demonstrate that directional information is encoded primarily in early arrivals to the receptors, while equilibrium quantities inform on source distance. We develop a new homogenization result showing that complex receptor configurations can be replaced by a uniform effective condition. In the extreme scenario where the cell adopts the angular direction of the first impact, we show this estimate to be surprisingly accurate.