PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Angel Stanoev
AU  - Akhilesh P. Nandan
AU  - Aneta Koseska
TI  - Optimal biochemical information processing at criticality
AID  - 10.1101/543348
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 543348
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/08/543348.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/08/543348.full
AB  - How cells utilize surface receptors for chemoreception is a recurrent question spanning between physics and biology over the past few decades. However, the dynamical mechanism for processing time-varying signals is still unclear. Using dynamical systems formalism to describe criticality in non-equilibrium systems, we propose generic principle for temporal information processing through phase-space trajectories using dynamic transient memory. In contrast to short-term memory, dynamic memory generated via ghost attractor enables signal integration depending on stimulus history, and thus balance between stability and plasticity in receptor responses. We propose that self-organization at criticality can arise through fluctuation-sensing mechanism, illustrated for the experimentally established epidermal growth factor sensing system. This framework applies irrespective of the intrinsic node dynamics or network size, as we show using also a basic neuronal model. Processing of non-stationary signals, a feature previously attributed only to neuronal networks, thus uniquely emerges for biochemical networks organized at criticality.