Receptors: Models for Binding, Trafficking, and Signaling

Abstract

This book addresses the interface between chemical engineering and cell biology, demonstrating how a mathematical modeling approach combined with quantitative experiments can provide enhanced understanding of cell phenomena involving receptor-ligand interactions. The work introduces engineers to key problems in receptor biology, and familiarizes cell biologists with the valuable insights that can be gained from engineering analysis and synthesis. The central unifying theme is the development of a quantitative understanding of how receptor-mediated cell functions depend on receptor and ligand molecular properties. Both basic and newly developed model frameworks are described over the entire spectrum of receptor processes, from fundamental cell-surface binding, intracellular trafficking, and signal transduction events to the cell behavioral functions they govern, including proliferation, adhesion, and migration. Emphasis is placed on mechanistic models that are accessible to testing. Researchers in the fields of biotechnology, biomedicine, bioengineering, and molecular biology will find the information presented here highly useful and clearly described.