Research

How is information processed by a multi-cellular network?

Although one can predict the behavior of many high-level organisms, such as the heart and liver, it is difficult to predict the behavior of their constituent components – the cells. Because of the internal and external fluctuations, cells are very stochastic creatures. However, when they are allowed to communicate with each other, they can collectively produce deterministic features, from the beating rhythms of our heart, to the embryo development of our body. To understand these emergent behaviors, we develop experimental and theoretical models to study the information process by a cell colony. Of particular interest is chemosensing, where cells respond to external chemical stimulation. Even though the readout of a single cell is unreliable due to the fluctuations, we want to know how a cell colony solves this issue through extensive intercellular communications.

An emerging concept in the recent years is that mechanical cues can be as important as chemical cues to regulate a cellular system. Cells can sense mechanical properties of the environment, such as rigidity or external forces through their mechanotransduction instruments. At the same time, cells can actively change the mechanical properties of their environment, again, such as the rigidity or exerting forces. This feedback system allows a group of cells to self-organize into states as puzzling as a flock of birds, as magnificent as a school of fish. We are interested how mechanical interaction between cells propagate into chemical responses within the cells, as well as through the cell colonies. In particular, we are interested how a group of invading cancer cells maintain their collective features through mechanical signaling.