Temporal Coding of Signaling Pathway

Abstract

Cellular responses, such as cell fate decision and hormonal regulations, can be regulated by distinct temporal patterns of signaling molecules. However, how temporal patterns of signaling molecules determine the cellular responses remains largely unknown. Recently, we have proposed the concept of “temporal coding”, by which a single molecular species can encode multiple information through its temporal patterns. We found that signaling pathways can process information of stimulation patterns depending on their network motif and kinetics, and cells can regulate downstream molecules depending on stimulation pattern. Thus, “temporal coding” appears to serve as an information-embedding strategy to elicit specific cellular responses.