The Seven Stones

Information processing in signaling networks

Research highlight by Charles Auffray, Functional Genomics and Systems Biology for Health, UMR7091, CNRS and Pierre & Marie Curie University—Paris VI, Villejuif, France

MSB Research Highlights

The work presented by Helikar et al. (2008) in a paper recently published in the PNAS represents a promising new step in the development of computational cellular physiology in eukaryotes. From curated cellular and biochemical data available in the literature, the authors have assembled a discrete Boolean model of signal transduction comprising 130 nodes, and examined in a systematic and controlled manner how varying combinations of external inputs translate into a range of cellular responses. The qualitative model is not only able to reproduce known input-output relationships representative of major transduction pathways, but it also provides evidence in support of the emergence of information-processing functions from the complex cellular network of molecular interactions. This is strikingly demonstrated by the fact that a large sample of randomly selected input combinations result in a very limited fraction of the possible outputs, which correspond to well-characterized global biological responses, a result which is obtained irrespective of the level of noise introduced in the inputs of the model. Moreover, similar input combinations are neatly clustered by the model into equivalence classes of global outputs, reflecting the ability of the cell to integrate complex environmental signals and translate them into robust specific responses and behaviours through common intracellular pathways. While discrete Boolean modelling makes it possible to highlight emergent properties of transduction networks, overcoming the hurdle of parameter estimation, very much as in classical physiology, it provides only high-order views in the form of black boxes with limited predictive and explanatory power. Integration with continuous models will be essential to unravel and engineer the underlying mechanisms.

Helikar T, Konvalina J, Heidel J, Rogers JA (2008). Emergent decision-making in biological signal transduction networks. PNAS 105, 1913-1918

Comments

Comments are closed.