title: Signaling from the living plasma membrane.
abstract: Our understanding of the plasma membrane, once viewed simply as a static barrier, has been revolutionized to encompass a complex, dynamic organelle that integrates the cell with its extracellular environment. Here, we discuss how bidirectional signaling across the plasma membrane is achieved by striking a delicate balance between restriction and propagation of information over different scales of time and space and how underlying dynamic mechanisms give rise to rich, context-dependent signaling responses. In this Review, we show how computer simulations can generate counterintuitive predictions about the spatial organization of these complex processes.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Department of Systemic Cell Biology, Otto-Hahn-Str. 11, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: Hernán E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Grecco
authors.forename: Malte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmick
authors.forename: Philippe I H
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Bastiaens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction