Cell signaling research has new math model

Ann Arbor, Mich -- A U.S.-led study has developed a mathematical model that is expected to have a far-reaching impact on how scientists study cellular signaling pathways.

"This has the potential to be a true paradigm shift," said Dr. Sofia Merajver, a University of Michigan professor and co-director of the breast oncology program at the university's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Medical researchers scrutinize the pathways inside cells to learn which cellular processes are key in causing disease conditions and how to target them with new drugs. Merajver said the new model offers such scientists the opportunity to improve current mathematical models with a superior tool that can take advantage of advances in computing power.

The study that included postdoctoral fellow Alejandra Ventura, and mathematical physicist Jacques Sepulchre of the University of Nice in Valbonne, France, appears online in the journal PloS Computational Biology.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.