Related papers: Single cells can resolve graded stimuli
Biochemical networks related to similar functional pathways are often correlated due to cross-talk among the homologous proteins in the different networks. Using a stochastic framework, we address the functional significance of the…
Neural oscillations are universal phenomena and can be observed at different levels of neural systems, from single neuron to macroscopic brain. The frequency of those oscillations are related to the brain functions. However, little is know…
The origin of nonlinear responses in cells has been suggested to be crucial for various cell functions including the propagation of the nervous impulse. In physics nonlinear behavior often originates from phase transitions. Evidence for…
Eukaryotic cells are able to sense chemical gradients in a wide range of environments. We show that, if a cell is exposed to a highly variable environment, it may gain chemotactic accuracy by expressing multiple receptor types with varying…
One of the many ways cells transmit information within their volume is through steady spatial gradients of different proteins. However, the mechanism through which proteins without any sources or sinks form such single-cell gradients is not…
The cell cycle is a tightly controlled process, yet its underlying genetic network shows marked differences across species. Which of the associated structural features follow solely from the ability to impose the appropriate gene expression…
Living systems process sensory data to facilitate adaptive behaviour. A given sensor can be stimulated as the result of internally driven activity, or by purely external (environmental) sources. It is clear that these inputs are processed…
Culture involves the origination and transmission of ideas, but the conditions in which culture can emerge and evolve are unclear. We constructed and studied a highly simplified neural-network model of these processes. In this model ideas…
It is becoming increasingly appreciated that the signal transduction systems used by eukaryotic cells to achieve a variety of essential responses represent highly complex networks rather than simple linear pathways. While significant effort…
We study the capacity with which a system of independent neuron-like units represents a given set of stimuli. We assume that each neuron provides a fixed amount of information, and that the information provided by different neurons has a…
As a result of a hundred million years of evolution, living animals have adapted extremely well to their ecological niche. Such adaptation implies species-specific interactions with their immediate environment by processing sensory cues and…
Cell migration, which is strictly regulated by intracellular and extracellular cues, is crucial for normal physiological processes and the progression of certain diseases. However, there is a lack of an efficient approach to analyze…
In order to survive, reproduce and (in multicellular organisms) differentiate, cells must control the concentrations of the myriad different proteins that are encoded in the genome. The precision of this control is limited by the inevitable…
A rigorous understanding of how multicellular behaviors arise from the actions of single cells requires quantitative frameworks that bridge the gap between genetic circuits, the arrangement of cells in space, and population-level behaviors.…
Cells sense external concentrations and, via biochemical signaling, respond by regulating the expression of target proteins. Both in signaling networks and gene regulation there are two main mechanisms by which the concentration can be…
Living systems relay information across membrane interfaces to coordinate compartment functions. We identify a physical mechanism for selective information transmission that arises from the sigmoidal response of surface-bound particle…
How cells reliably infer information about their environment is a fundamentally important question. While sensing and signaling generally start with cell-surface receptors, the degree of accuracy with which a cell can measure external…
Eukaryotic cells sense chemical gradients to decide where and when to move. Clusters of cells can sense gradients more accurately than individual cells by integrating measurements of the concentration made across the cluster. Is this…
Organisms must acquire and use environmental information to guide their behaviors. However, it is unclear whether and how information quantitatively limits behavioral performance. Here, we relate information to behavioral performance in…
In this work, we present a paradigm bridging electromagnetic (EM) and molecular communication through a stimuli-responsive intra-body model. It has been established that protein molecules, which play a key role in governing cell behavior,…