Molecular network design toward group-level decision making of cell populations

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23700350
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Bioinformatics/Life informatics
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: FUJIMOTO Koichi 大阪大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (60334306)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: モデル化 / 自己組織化 / 細胞 / 集団現象 / システム生物学 / 微生物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Although the genetic circuits underlying state switching at the single-cell level are well understood, how such circuits work in concert among many cells to support the population-level switching of cellular behaviors is not fully explored. Experiments using microbial signaling systems show that group-level changes in cellular state occur in either a graded or an all-or-none fashion. We show that the type of group-level decision making used by populations is uniquely determined by a single dimensionless parameter that compares the quorum-signaling molecules accumulated within the cells with those secreted by the population. The role of the parameter is universal such that it not only applies to the autoinducing circuits but also to the more complex gene circuits involved in transmembrane receptor signaling and negative feedback. The design principle that we describe thus serves as the basis for the analysis and control of collective cellular decision making in general.

Free Research Field

理論生物学