Information Thermodynamics of Cell Signal Transduction

Abstract

Intracellular signal transduction is the most important research topic in cell biology, and for many years, model research by system biology based on network theory has long been in progress. This article reviews cell signaling from the viewpoint of information thermo- dynamics and describes a method for quantitatively describing signaling. In particular, a theoretical basis for evaluating the efficiency of intracellular signal transduction is presented in which information transmission in intracellular signal transduction is maxi-mized by using entropy coding and the fluctuation theorem. An important conclusion is obtained: the average entropy production rate is constant through the signal cascade.