First q-bio Summer School: Signal Transduction Mechanisms

This series of lectures will focus on modeling the kinetics of protein-protein interactions.

Lecture 1

Scope: An Introduction to Cell Signaling
Lecturer: Byron Goldstein
Abstract: Cell signaling is initiated when receptors, that are mobile on the surface of a cell, bind external ligands and transmit the knowledge of these binding events across the plasma membrane. We review some of the general properties of receptors and membranes that are important to our understanding of how cell signaling starts. We then look at some examples to illustrate how signaling is initiated and how it proceeds. Finally, we discuss the idea of kinetic proofreading in cell signaling and how false signals are prevented from propagating and triggering a response.
References: Goldstein, B., J.R. Faeder and W. S. Hlavacek (2004). Mathematical and computational models of immune-receptor signaling. Nature Rev. Immunol. 4, 445-456.; Hlavacek, W. S., J. R. Faeder, M. L. Blinov, A. S. Perelson and B. Goldstein (2003). The complexity of complexes in signal transduction. Biotech. and Bioeng. 84, 783-794.; McKeithan, T. W. (1995). Kinetic proofreading in T-cell receptor signal transduction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 5042-5046.
Lecture notes: PDF