Individual cells are the basic building blocks of all life. However, for an organism to function properly, many cells need to act in a coordinated fashion across tissues and at organism scales. In our lab, we utilize a systems-level perspective to study the rules governing mammalian cellular communication and the signal processing capabilities of signaling pathways. While many molecular details of cell-cell signaling are known, it is still a mystery how they come together to allow specific communication capabilities. Using combinations of experiments, mathematical models, and computational analysis, we aim to uncover the basic principles used by cells to perceive information during cell fate determination processes in development and the immune system. Using high throughput automated tissue culture system, we expose cells to combinations of signals and measure the cell perception at a single cell level using flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy. This data provides us with a basis for developing quantitative predictive models, which will enable precise control of cellular processes during development and disease and provide a basic understanding of the control mechanism of multicellular systems, opening up new approaches for synthetic biology applications.
