This course is presented as part of the BioMaPS Summer School. It is jointly sponsored by the BioMaPS Institute for Quantitative Biology, the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS), the Rutgers Center for Molecular Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry (MBBC), the Program in Mathematics and Molecular Biology based at Florida State University (PMMB), and the Rutgers Center for Systems and Control (SYCON).
Presented under the auspices of the DIMACS/BioMaPS/MB Center Special Focus on Information Processing in Biology.
The course is a five-day intensive investigation of signal transduction divided into two related parts:
The foundation required by non-expert researchers for the understanding of signal transduction will be provided by five leaders in the field in a series of 2-hour presentations during the first half of the course. Stanislav Shvartsman of Princeton will start the course with a basic description of signal transduction including an outline of chemical pathways and their biological significance. Igor Zhulin of the Georgia Institute of Technology will then follow with a more detailed description of signal transduction in bacteria. Ann Stock of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ will then focus on bacterial "two-component" proteins involved in phosphotransfer signaling systems, a general mechanism of signal transduction that is widespread throughout nature. Various aspects of bacterial motility and chemotaxis will be covered by Robert Bourret of the University of North Carolina and Ned Wingreen of Princeton University. These introductory lectures will lay the groundwork for seminars on current research in signal transduction. The lectures have been designed to provide participants with a limited knowledge of molecular biology a smooth transition to the understanding and appreciation of cutting-edge research.
In the remaining presentations, participants will gain an in-depth view of signal transduction both from the content of the presentations and the perspectives provided by both molecular biologists and physicists. Confirmed speakers include Bonnie Bassler (Princeton University), William Bialek (Princeton University), Mark Goulian (University of Pennsylvania), Tom Silhavy (Princeton University), and Alexander van Oudenaarden (MIT). In addition to his introductory lecture, Robert Bourret (University of North Carolina) has agreed to offer advice on the important issue of achieving effective collaborations between experimentalists and modelers.
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