.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.
