Biophysics of sensing and signaling

Biological cells have remarkable abilities to respond to changes in their environment. This seminar focuses on signal reception and processing, including the consequences for cell fate decisions such as apoptosis and differentiation, from a mathematical and physical perspective. With the help of common cellular model systems (bacteria, amoebae, tissue cells, immune cells, etc) we will analyze qualitatively and quantitatively how cells sense and respond to their chemical, social and physical environment, discussing phenomena such as chemotaxis, quorum sensing or mechanosensing. We will elucidate the biophysical limitations of cellular information processing in each case and introduce key concepts that have enabled cells to successfully meet these challenges. With the help of generic biophysical models, we will address: 1) how signals are sensed by allosteric receptors, 2) how information is processed by cellular signal transduction networks to extract biologically relevant information from such signals and 3) how cells achieve specific and robust information transfer, for example by feedback and kinetic proofreading. We will apply these concepts to the different biological model systems using relevant data from the literature. The ultimate goal of the seminar is to provide students with the knowledge that should enable them to 1) make informed comparisons between different sensory systems, 2) to use biophysical insight for hypothesizing about common principles and system-specific “design solutions” that have evolved in nature and 3) to apply this knowledge for biotechnological applications in order to interfere with signaling or to rationally (re)engineer a sensory network (synthetic biology). We also will discuss the specific role of physical aspects, such as mechanical stiffness, temperature and electric fields.

This seminar is targeted at master students of physics, biology and biotechnology with an interest in interdisciplinary approaches. For the physics students, some knowledge in statistical physics and biophysics is helpful. For the biology and biotechnology students, some mathematical knowledge on kinetic equations is helpful. 

We will meet for a preparatory meeting on Wed April 19 at 5 pm at the Bioquant (INF 267, SR 44) to discuss the subjects and exact procedures of this seminar. Most likely, we will run it as a block seminar, with the dates to be discussed at the first meeting.