Simulation of signal transduction pathways [Elektronische Ressource] / Marco Weismüller

Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum HeidelbergAbteilung Theoretische BioinformatikSimulation ofSignal TransductionPathwaysDKFZ, Heidelberg Universitat UlmDissertationzur Erlangung des Doktorgrades Dr.rer.nat.der Fakultat fur Informatik der Universitat UlmMarco Weismulleraus Heidelberg2004Amtierender Dekan: Prof. Dr. Friedrich W. von Henke1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Uwe Sch oning2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Peter DurreExterner Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Edgar WingenderTag der Promotion: 16. Juli 2004AbstractSignal transduction is about how molecular mechanisms in cells are used to receive,process and respond to signals from outside and inside of the cell. The term signal isde ned in a dual way in this context: being the molecular state of a molecule, e.g. aprotein, and at the same time an abstract logical state (active/inactive).This thesis focuses on intracellular signalling: i.e. receiving some kind of stimuli (e.g.hormones) from outside, integrating this information with the state of the cell, andpassing this information into the nucleus to regulate gene expression by transcriptionfactors as the response to the stimulus.In recent years a huge amount of data has been accumulated in various biologicaldatabases. These data are used for quantitative analysis of small, well-de ned signalnetworks.The dissertation follows the new approach of qualitative simulation of signal transductionon whole-cell scale.