Title :
Optimal Design of a Molecular Recognizer: Molecular Recognition as a Bayesian Signal Detection Problem
Author :
Savir, Yonatan ; Tlusty, Tsvi
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. of Complex Syst., Weiz-mann Inst. of Sci., Rehovot
fDate :
6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Numerous biological functions-such as enzymatic catalysis, the immune response system, and the DNA-protein regulatory network-rely on the ability of molecules to specifically recognize target molecules within a large pool of similar competitors in a noisy biochemical environment. Using the basic framework of signal detection theory, we treat the molecular recognition process as a signal detection problem and examine its overall performance. Thus, we evaluate the optimal properties of a molecular recognizer in the presence of competition and noise. Our analysis reveals that the optimal design undergoes a ldquophase transitionrdquo as the structural properties of the molecules and interaction energies between them vary. In one phase, the recognizer should be complementary in structure to its target (like a lock and a key), while in the other, conformational changes upon binding, which often accompany molecular recognition, enhance recognition quality. Using this framework, the abundance of conformational changes may be explained as a result of increasing the fitness of the recognizer. Furthermore, this analysis may be used in future design of artificial signal processing devices based on biomolecules.
Keywords :
Bayes methods; medical signal detection; medical signal processing; phase transformations; DNA-protein regulatory network; artificial signal processing devices; enzymatic catalysis; immune response system; molecular recognition process; noisy biochemical environment; phase transition; signal detection theory; Bayesian methods; Biological information theory; Biological systems; Physics; Proteins; Signal design; Signal detection; Signal processing; Target recognition; Working environment noise; Bayesian detection; conformational changes; molecular recognition; specificity;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Signal Processing, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSTSP.2008.923859