title: Enhanced cellular sensitivity from partitioning the integrin receptors into multiple clusters.
abstract: Integrins are essential receptors for the development and functioning of multicellular organisms because they mediate cell adhesion and migration, and regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis. In response to cues in the extracellular matrix, they are observed to organize into many clusters. The number and size of such clusters are observed to vary according to the concentration of and affinity for the extracellular ligand. The realization of a cluster point pattern is governed by a doubly stochastic process, controlling the number of clusters and the number of points per cluster. We construct entropy measures for the separation of two doubly stochastic processes and demonstrate how the self-organization of integrins in multiple clusters contributes to the accuracy in sensing the extracellular environment.
authors: Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland. federico.felizzi@bsse.ethz.ch
authors: Federico
authors: F
authors: Felizzi
authors: Dagmar
authors: D
authors: Iber
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D016023:Integrins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D016023:Integrins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface