About this Research Topic
Background
Exchange of information is an essential feature of life: messenger molecules binding to receptors initiate reactions in complex signaling reaction cascades, which translate and process information from the outside world into functional responses. These responses control many aspects central to life, from cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, and survival to collective responses of multicellular assemblies, such as tissues. Whilst cell signaling has been studied for decades, a multidisciplinary effort is still needed to decipher the basic physical principles behind information processing in living systems, and to make use of these principles in designing bioinspired information processing systems.
Goal
Over the past years, in its quest to find the minimal functional units of life, the field of synthetic biology has started to advance our understanding of the basic mechanisms of cell signaling, by rebuilding cellular signaling modules in vitro from the bottom-up. In parallel, inspired by natural cellular systems, researchers have begun to mimic cellular communication in artificial cell communities, both intercellularly and between different communities of artificial cells, and artificial cells with living cells. Finally, in recent years, (bio)chemists, including those working in the origins-of-life field, have sought to develop artificial responsive systems towards the design of biomimetic compartments capable of signaling. The aim of this Research Topic is to cover promising, recent, and novel research trends in the fields connected to recreating and studying natural, bioinspired, or primitive signaling systems in vitro and minimal cells, using synthetic biology and chemistry.
Scope and information for Authors
Areas to be covered by this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Reconstitution of minimal signaling systems across all branches of life
• Reconstitution of membrane-based signaling systems
• Hybrid approaches studying cell signaling in contacts between nanostructures and/or reconstituted systems and live cells
• Communication between artificial/minimal cells, e.g. (nucleic acid-based) signaling systems in liposomes
• Approaches to designing bio-inspired molecular communication systems
• Supramolecular stimuli-responsive chemical systems
Exchange of information is an essential feature of life: messenger molecules binding to receptors initiate reactions in complex signaling reaction cascades, which translate and process information from the outside world into functional responses. These responses control many aspects central to life, from cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, and survival to collective responses of multicellular assemblies, such as tissues. Whilst cell signaling has been studied for decades, a multidisciplinary effort is still needed to decipher the basic physical principles behind information processing in living systems, and to make use of these principles in designing bioinspired information processing systems.
Goal
Over the past years, in its quest to find the minimal functional units of life, the field of synthetic biology has started to advance our understanding of the basic mechanisms of cell signaling, by rebuilding cellular signaling modules in vitro from the bottom-up. In parallel, inspired by natural cellular systems, researchers have begun to mimic cellular communication in artificial cell communities, both intercellularly and between different communities of artificial cells, and artificial cells with living cells. Finally, in recent years, (bio)chemists, including those working in the origins-of-life field, have sought to develop artificial responsive systems towards the design of biomimetic compartments capable of signaling. The aim of this Research Topic is to cover promising, recent, and novel research trends in the fields connected to recreating and studying natural, bioinspired, or primitive signaling systems in vitro and minimal cells, using synthetic biology and chemistry.
Scope and information for Authors
Areas to be covered by this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Reconstitution of minimal signaling systems across all branches of life
• Reconstitution of membrane-based signaling systems
• Hybrid approaches studying cell signaling in contacts between nanostructures and/or reconstituted systems and live cells
• Communication between artificial/minimal cells, e.g. (nucleic acid-based) signaling systems in liposomes
• Approaches to designing bio-inspired molecular communication systems
• Supramolecular stimuli-responsive chemical systems
Keywords: Reconstitution, Cell-Cell, Synthetic Communication Networks, Cell Signaling, bio-inspired communication
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
