Marker genes are genes that have expression profiles able to distinguish the sub-populations of cells present in the data. They are used to annotate cell types and “understand” their biology. In cancerous tissues they are used to identify cancer subtypes and thus to fine-tune therapies. Complex pathologies (in particular cancer) are characterized by strong variability at the molecular level....
Cellular signaling pathways operate as nonequilibrium biochemical networks that transduce di- rected chemical or mechanical signals across the cell. These cascades, initiated for example by ligand binding to membrane receptors, involve multiple biochemical reactions and complex for- mations. Because signaling pathways rely on branched, multiplicative processes, errors can propagate rapidly,...
Proliferating cells organize their resources in order to harness nutrients from the environment and grow. Work in bacteria has highlighted how this behavior leads to striking emergent “growth laws” linking growth to cellular composition. However, beyond bacteria, we still have limited insight on the generality of such laws and even in bacteria some of the key mechanistic aspects underlying...
