Information and Decisions-Making in Dynamic Cell Signalling

I will discuss a new theoretical approach to information and decisions in dynamic cell signalling systems. In this approach the value of the information in the signalling system is defined by how well it can be used to make the “correct decisions” when those “decisions” are made by molecular networks. As part of this I will introduce a new mathematical method for the analysis and simulation of large stochastic non-linear oscillating systems. This allows an analytic analysis of the stochastic relationship between input and response and shows that for tightly-coupled systems like those based on current models for signalling and clocks, this relationship is highly constrained and non-generic. As part of the discussion I will describe some of the most important mammalian signalling systems.