AMC-SS: Stochastic Simulation and Analysis of Biochemical Reaction Networks

本研究的目的是了解活细胞如何相互交流。 具体来说，问题是一个细胞可以获得多少关于化学梯度和周围细胞释放的其他信号的信息。这项研究的理论框架是通信的数学理论，称为信息论。 信息论，由克劳德·香农在20世纪40年代开创，为从计算机到手机的现代通信设备提供了技术基础。 在这个项目中，研究人员采用通信工程中开发的数学概念，并将其应用于理解称为信号转导的基本生物过程。 人体由数万亿个细胞组成。 不同的细胞执行不同的功能，其中许多依赖于与其他细胞交换化学信号。人体细胞之间的通信的一些例子包括大脑中神经细胞之间的通信，免疫细胞对受伤或感染组织释放的化学标志物的反应，以及癌细胞的转移（不受控制的生长和扩散）。 与蜂窝电话一样，生物细胞之间的通信受到可以通过定量数学模型描述的基本物理约束的限制。 通过提高我们对细胞间通信及其效率的物理限制的理解，该项目有可能提高我们理解涉及细胞通信故障的各种疾病的能力，如癌症，慢性炎症和某些发育缺陷。

.The purpose of the present study is to understand how living cells communicate with one another. Specifically, the question asked is how much information a cell can obtain about chemical gradients and other signals released from the cells around it. The theoretical framework for this study is the mathematical theory of communication, known as information theory. Information theory, pioneered in the 1940's by Claude Shannon, provides the technical foundation for modern communications devices ranging from computers to cell phones. In this project, the investigators take the mathematical concepts developed in communications engineering and apply them to understanding a fundamental biological process known as signal transduction. The human body is composed of trillions of individual cells. Different cells perform different functions, many of which depend on exchanging chemical signals with other cells. Some examples of communication between cells in the human body include communication between nerve cells in the brain, response of immune cells to chemical markers released by injured or infected tissue, and metastasis (uncontrolled growth and spread) of cancer cells. As with cellular telephones, communication between biological cells is limited by fundamental physical constraints that can be described by quantitative mathematical models. By improving our understanding of cell-to-cell communication and the physical constraints on its efficiency, the proposed project has the potential to improve our ability to understand a wide range of diseases involving breakdowns in cellular communications, such as cancer, chronic inflammation, and certain developmental defects.