Utilization of extracellular information before ligand-receptor binding reaches equilibrium expands and shifts the input dynamic range.

ABSTRACT: Cell signaling systems sense and respond to ligands that bind cell surface receptors. These systems often respond to changes in the concentration of extracellular ligand more rapidly than the ligand equilibrates with its receptor. We demonstrate, by modeling and experiment, a general "systems level" mechanism cells use to take advantage of the information present in the early signal, before receptor binding reaches a new steady state. This mechanism, pre-equilibrium sensing and signaling (PRESS), operates in signaling systems in which the kinetics of ligand-receptor binding are slower than the downstream signaling steps, and it typically involves transient activation of a downstream step. In the systems where it operates, PRESS expands and shifts the input dynamic range, allowing cells to

SUBMITTER: Ventura AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4169960 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature