Verena Becker: "Covering a Broad Dynamic Range - Information Processing at the Erythropoietin Receptor Level"

Dr. Verena Becker
DFKZ – Systems Biology of Signal Transduction, Heidelberg

Covering a Broad Dynamic Range - Information Processing at the Erythropoietin Receptor Level

Cell surface receptors convert extracellular cues into activation of intracellular signaling networks and thereby ultimately elicit specific cellular decisions. The identification of receptor properties that critically determine processing of ligand-encoded information has so far been a major unsolved issue. Here we show by data-based mathematical modeling and experimental validation for a hematopoietic cytokine receptor, the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR), that rapid ligand depletion and recovery of receptor pools at the plasma membrane are hallmarks of EpoR signaling. These properties enable the EpoR to cope with both steady-state turnover and acute demand in the hematopoietic system.