Dynamical Networks in Physics and Biology: At the Frontier of Physics and Biology: Les Houches Workshop, March 17-21, 1997 (Centre de Physique Des Houches)

The 1997 Les Houches workshop on "Dynamical Network in Physics and Biology" was the third in a series of meetings "At the Frontier between Physics and Biology". Our objective with these workshops is to create a truly interdisciplinary forum for researchers working on outstanding problems in biology, but using different approaches (physical, chemical or biological). Generally speaking, the biologists are trained in the particular and motivated by the specifics, while, in contrast, the physicists deal with generic and "universal" models. All agree about the necessity of developing "robust" models. The specific aim of the workshop was to bridge the gap between physics and biology in the particular field of interconnected dynamical networks. The proper functioning of a living organism of any complexity requires the coordinated activity of a great number of "units". Units, or, in physical terms, degrees of freedom that couple to one another, typically form networks. The physical or biological properties of interconnected networks may drastically differ from those of the individual units: the whole is not simply an assembly of its parts, as can be demonstrated by the following examples. Above a certain (critical) concentration the metallic islands, randomly distributed in an insulating matrix, form an interconnected network. At this point the macroscopic conductivity of the system becomes finite and the amorphous metal is capable of carrying current. The value of the macroscopic conductivity typically is very different from the conductivity of the individual metallic islands. Front Matter....Pages I-XVI Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Cooperative Phenomena in Physical Networks....Pages 3-13 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Complex Networks in Cell Biology....Pages 17-25 The Keratocyte Cytoskeleton: A Dynamic Structural Network....Pages 27-40 Adhesion Mediated Signaling: The Role of Junctional Plaque Proteins in the Regulation of Tumorigenesis....Pages 41-49 Of Proteins, Redox States and Living Things....Pages 51-66 Tensegrity and the Emergence of a Cellular Biophysics....Pages 67-80 The Leukocyte Actin Cytoskeleton....Pages 81-91 Branched Polymers and Gels....Pages 93-102 Statistical Mechanics of Semiflexible Polymers: Theory and Experiment....Pages 103-119 Scale Effects, Anisotropy and Non-Linearity of Tensegrity Structures: Applications to Cell Mechanical Behavior....Pages 121-127 Front Matter....Pages 129-129 Networks of Extracellular Matrix and Adhesion Proteins....Pages 131-138 Networks of Extracellular Fibers and the Generation of Morphogenetic Forces....Pages 139-148 First Steps Towards a Comprehensive Model of Tissues, or: A Physicist Looks at Development....Pages 149-160 Networks of Droplets Induced by Coalescence: Application to Cell Sorting....Pages 161-169 A Monte-Carlo Approach to Growing Solid Non-Vascular Tumors....Pages 171-185 Front Matter....Pages 187-187 Intracellular Communication via Protein Kinase Networks....Pages 189-200 Molecular Networks that Regulate Development....Pages 201-211 H-Bond Networks in Stability and Function of Biological Macromolecules....Pages 213-225 A Network of Cell Interactions Mediated by Frizzled is Essential for Gastrulation and Anteroposterior Axis Determination in Xenopus Embryos....Pages 227-235 Fluid Lipid-Bilayer Membranes: Some Basic Physical Mechanisms for Lateral Self-Organization....Pages 237-248 Front Matter....Pages 187-187 Logical Analysis of Timing-Dependent Signaling Properties in the Immune System....Pages 249-261 A Water Channel Network in Cell Membranes of the Filter Chamber of Homopteran Insects....Pages 263-270 Creative Genomic Webs....Pages 271-282 Front Matter....Pages 283-283 Hebbian Learning of Temporal Correlations: Sound Localization in the Barn Owl Auditory System....Pages 285-296 Front Matter....Pages 297-297 Structures of Supercoiled DNA and their Biological Implications....Pages 299-307 Back Matter....Pages 309-313 "The volume contains the material of the Third Les Houches Winter Workshop "At the Frontier of the Physics and Biology". The workshop was devoted to questions of dynamical networks, which present a ubiquitous form of organization of both inanimate and living systems. The articles included in the book demonstrate through specific examples, how biological systems use the distinctive properties of interconnected networks, widely studied in the physical sciences, to regulate vital physiological processes."--BOOK JACKET This volume contains the material presented at the Third Les Houches Winter Workshop on the "Frontier of Physics and Biology". The workshop was devoted to questions of dynamical networks, which present a ubiquitous form of organization in both inanimate and living systems. The articles included in the book demonstrate, through specific examples, how biological systems use the distinctive properties of interconnected networks, widely studied in the physical sciences, to regulate vital physiological processes.