LEUP
Least microEnvironmental Uncertainty Principle
Cells not only follow their genetic programme, they also perceive their microenvironment. This enables them to make decisions and change their behaviour (phenotype). In the microenvironment, in addition to closely related cells, there are other types of cells that produce signals and react to them. This dynamic dialogue between cells forms the basis of collective behaviour, which can be found from bacteria to organ development in higher organisms. Despite advances in biological research, we still do not fully understand the principles underlying decision-making in multicellular microenvironments.
In this project, we pursue an approach inspired by statistical mechanics to answer fundamental questions arising from the complexity of biological systems. We hypothesise that cells derive their phenotype by sensing their microenvironment and improving their previous information about it. We formalise this hypothesis in a mathematical theory and postulate the "Least microEnvironmental Uncertainty Principle" (LEUP) of cellular decision making. This gives us a mathematical abstraction of cellular decision making with low complexity that allows us to integrate different types of data and make predictions without knowing all the underlying molecular mechanisms. We test this model with four different systems of cellular decision making, ranging from haematopoietic and immunological cell differentiation (T cells) and plasticity (macrophages) to bacterial motility and cell division.
Partners
Prof. Dr. Massimo Locati, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italien
Prof. Dr. Marc Erhardt, Humboldt-Universität Berlin
Prof. Nir Friedman, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Duration
01/2020 - 12/2024
