The effect of dynamic receptor clustering on the sensitivity of biochemical signaling

Lateral clustering has emerged as a general mechanism used by many cellular receptors to control their responses to critical changes in the external environment. Here we derive a general mathematical framework to characterize the effect of receptor clustering on the sensitivity and dynamic range of biochemical signaling. In particular, we apply the theory to the bacterial chemosensory system and show that it can integrate a large body of experimental observations and provide a unified explanation to many aspects of chemotaxis. The principles of dynamic receptor clustering and signal amplification incorporated into this theory may underlie the design of many cellular networks.