Information tranfer in NF-kappaB and MAPK pathways

描述（由申请人提供）：细胞内信号转导途径是允许活细胞扫描其环境和内部状态并对各种刺激做出适当反应的信息通信途径。这种功能，以及潜在的生物化学的细节，表明，通过信号通路传递和处理的信息的定量和分析可能代表一个方便和信息框架的分析信号通路的结构和信号响应的灵敏度。在这里，我们建议开发一个基于信息理论的分析信息传递和处理的信号转导途径，特别强调MAPK和NF-κ B途径。我们建议联合收割机的数学，计算和实验研究的结果，这些途径与发展的信息理论处理的信息流通过生化反应和/或反应组（信号模块）。一组初步结果表明，这一理论的发展是可行的，并可能导致一系列有趣的和重要的见解细胞信号。我们建议，在信令路径中传输的信息量可以估计在通常的单位（每单位时间的比特），导致信道容量，冗余，信息编码和抗噪声的明确定义。我们提出了这些概念如何可以应用到两个特定的和至关重要的信号转导途径，其中的信息流是动态的，可以在空间分布和/或反馈的方式进行调节。总之，我们建议开发一个数学信息理论的活细胞中的信号转导的理论分析框架，不同于和补充更传统的数学和计算方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Intracellular signal transduction pathways are routes of information communication allowing living cells to scan their environment and internal state and respond appropriately to various stimuli. This function, as well as the details of the underlying biochemistry, suggest that quantification and analysis of information passed and processed by signaling pathways might represent a convenient and informative framework for the analysis the signaling pathway structure and of the sensitivity of signaling response. Here we propose to develop an information theory based analysis of information transfer and processing in signal transduction pathways with a specific emphasis on the MAPK and NF-kappaB pathways. We propose to combine the results of mathematical, computational and experimental studies of these pathways with development of an information theoretical treatment of information flow through biochemical reactions and/or groups of reactions (signaling modules). A set of preliminary results suggest that the development of this theory is feasible and can lead to a series of interesting and important insights about cell signaling. We propose that the amount of information transmitted in signaling pathways can be estimated in the usual units (bits per unit time) leading to clear definitions of channel capacity, redundancy, information coding and noise resistance. We propose how these notions can be applied to two specific and vitally important signal transduction pathways, where the information flow is dynamic and may be regulated in a spatially distributed and/or feedback fashion. In summary, we propose to develop a mathematical information theory of signal transduction in living cells as a theoretical analysis framework distinct from and complementary to the more traditional mathematical and computational approaches.