This project will significantly improve our understanding of cellular information flow in the presence of complex environment cues. Cells respond to external stimuli through a cascade of events involving messenger elements that transduce information at diverse scales. Despite the progress in revealing individual signaling pathways, the fact that most signal transducers are shared by multiple pathways challenges our current understanding of cellular information flow. Compared to telecommunication systems, cells are excellent multiplexing (MUX) and demultiplexing (DEMUX) devices handling huge amount of information within an interweaving signaling network. In particular, as one of the most multitasking messenger elements, intracellular calcium engages in many aspects of cellular functions. However, existing models of information routing have either limited applicability in calcium signaling or may underestimate its information capacity.
Inspired by his recent findings of the calcium homeostasis during collective chemosensing, the PI hypothesizes that the non-linear dynamics of cytosolic calcium allows mammalian cells to encode complex information on both the single cell and multicellular levels. The PI proposes to test the hypothesis by studying the multiplexed chemosensing of a genetically engineered model cell line. As an essential step of the PI's long term goal to understand the physics of cellular information processing, the project will not only provide insight to the calcium-mediate MUX/DEMUX mechanisms, but also pave the way of realizing its engineering potential to build cell-based biosensors and biocomputational units. The PI will develop a diverse educational and outreach program that is closely integrated with the research program. Specifically: (i) Utilizing existing programs at Oregon State University (OSU), the PI will design a series of lab-based research training projects to engage female and minority high school students, summer undergraduate interns as well as senior undergraduate students working toward their thesis. (ii) Results and data generated in the project will be used to develop quantitative biology curricula to be offered at OSU from the winter term of 2014. This class is designed to discuss biological systems from information processing perspectives. (iii) Industrial outreach will benefit from the PI's existing industrial partnership and the proposed outreach activities, such as site visits and graduate student internships to disseminate the research outcomes.
This project is being jointly supported by the Physics of Living Systems program in the Division of Physics and the Cellular Dynamics and Function Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.
