Signaling and Communication in Heterogeneous Biological Environments

This research program is based on molecular communication, which is an emerging interdisciplinary field within communications engineering and inspired by signaling with molecules in nature. Many of our normal biological processes use molecular signaling, including the transmission of nerve signals when you touch an object, regulating your blood sugar when you eat a chocolate bar, and fighting diseases with your immune system. Molecular signaling is also common in biomedical and biological research. This program is applying communications engineering principles to characterize the quality of molecular signaling and how it can contribute to maintaining or improving a healthy environment. The proposed program addresses the following research questions:

1. How do molecular signals propagate in complex fluid environments? Important features in many environments with living cells can be described at the microscale, i.e., over dimensions less than a millimetre. One such feature is environments being comprised of distinct layers. Examples include spheroids (artificial tumours with thousands of cells that are grown to mimic organ behaviour and study cancer), blood vessels with their surrounding tissue cells, and bacteria swimming in the ocean surface microsystem. We will mathematically model how signals are transformed as molecules propagate between layers with different properties, which will in turn help us to predict how cells in these environments coordinate their behaviour.
2. How do bacteria in a Petri dish communicate with each other, and how can we communicate with them? The classical image of a scientist growing cells in a Petri dish is still common practice today and important for developing naturally-derived drugs including antibiotics. Bacteria are often grown in a dish on a sugar gel and can be genetically modified to turn on or turn off different behaviors. While these activities have been possible for decades, we don’t know how molecule signals actually get around within a Petri dish. We will set up structured experiments with visible signals in Petri dishes and track how they propagate and watch how bacteria respond. We will then be able to develop models to predict how bacteria could respond to other types of signals, including competing signals from other bacteria.

Collectively, this research program will develop a Canadian talent base that will promote new ways of understanding how cells and organisms use molecules to communicate. They will help us to understand the communication that underlies normal biological functions, and eventually help to develop treatments for diseases affecting Canadians where normal signaling is disrupted, thereby improving our quality of life.