1. Bacterial Chemotaxis: Using Computer Models to Unravel Mechanism. DENNIS BRAY, Physiology Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
The set of biochemical reactions by which an Escherichia coli bacterium detects and responds to distant sources of attractant or repellent molecules is probably the simplest and best understood example of a cell signaling pathway. The pathway has been saturated genetically and all of its protein components have been isolated and measured biochemically, and their atomic structures have been determined. We are using detailed computer simulations, tied to experimental data, to find how the pathway works as an integrated unit. Increasingly, we find that the physical location of molecular components within the molecular jungle of the cell interior is crucial for an understanding of their function. Signal amplification, for example, appears to depend on the propagation of activity across clusters of receptors and associated...
