Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Chemotaxis in E. coli01:27

Chemotaxis in E. coli

Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli is a sensory-driven motility mechanism that enables bacteria to navigate chemical gradients, moving toward beneficial environments while avoiding harmful conditions. This process relies on a signal transduction system integrating external chemical cues with flagellar motor control.Chemoreceptors and Signal DetectionE. coli detects chemical gradients through methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs), which are membrane-bound chemoreceptors that sense attractants...
Chemotaxis and Direction of Cell Migration01:21

Chemotaxis and Direction of Cell Migration

Cells can detect chemical cues in their environment and reorganize the cytoskeleton to migrate toward them or away from them. This directional migration, called chemotaxis, is essential during embryogenesis and development, immune response, tissue repair and regeneration, and reproduction. These chemical cues can either attract or repel the cell's movement. For example, axon development is determined by a combination of chemoattractants and chemorepellents that direct the growing axon towards...
Electrochemical Gradient and Channel Proteins: An Overview01:21

Electrochemical Gradient and Channel Proteins: An Overview

An electrochemical gradient is a fundamental concept in biology and chemistry. It regulates the movement of ions across cell membranes. This movement is influenced by two factors:
The electrical gradient: The electrical gradient across cell membranes refers to the difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a cell.  This difference drives the movement of ions towards or away from the cells. For instance, if the inside of the cell is more negatively charged relative to the...
Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses01:22

Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses

The physiological function of a cell and cellular communication are outcomes of a range of extrinsic signals, intracellular signaling pathways, and cellular responses. No two cell types express the same repertoire of signaling components. Receptors are highly selective for their cognate ligands, but once activated, they can alter multiple cellular processes such as DNA transcription, protein synthesis, and metabolic activity. 
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
Bacterial Signaling01:30

Bacterial Signaling

Bacterial signaling can occur within bacteria (intracellular) or between bacteria (intercellular). At times, a group of bacteria behaves like a community. To achieve this, they engage in quorum sensing, the perception of higher cell density that causes changes in gene expression. Quorum sensing involves both extracellular and intracellular signaling. The signaling cascade starts with a molecule called an autoinducer (AI). Individual bacteria produce AIs that move out of the bacterial cell...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Factors Associated With Early Mortality in Patients Treated With Concurrent Chemoradiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics·2016
Same author

Using Tomoauto: A Protocol for High-throughput Automated Cryo-electron Tomography.

Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE·2016
Same author

MiR-15a contributes abnormal immune response in myasthenia gravis by targeting CXCL10.

Clinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.)·2016
Same author

Minicells, Back in Fashion.

Journal of bacteriology·2016
Same author

A new variant of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus G2-like strain isolated in China.

Virus research·2016
Same author

Tumour-suppressive role of PTPN13 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance.

Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine·2016

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Imaging G-protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR)-mediated Signaling Events that Control Chemotaxis of Dictyostelium Discoideum
09:40

Imaging G-protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR)-mediated Signaling Events that Control Chemotaxis of Dictyostelium Discoideum

Published on: September 20, 2011

Quantifying information transmission in eukaryotic gradient sensing and chemotactic response.

Bo Hu1, Wen Chen, Herbert Levine

  • 1Center for Theoretical Biological Physics and Department of Physics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0374, U.S.A.

Journal of Statistical Physics
|June 7, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Eukaryotic cells sense chemical gradients for migration, but noise limits accuracy. Information theory quantifies how much information cells reliably transmit during chemotaxis, revealing information loss in directional sensing.

More Related Videos

A Microfluidic Device for Quantifying Bacterial Chemotaxis in Stable Concentration Gradients
09:28

A Microfluidic Device for Quantifying Bacterial Chemotaxis in Stable Concentration Gradients

Published on: April 19, 2010

Imaging G Protein-coupled Receptor-mediated Chemotaxis and its Signaling Events in Neutrophil-like HL60 Cells
08:24

Imaging G Protein-coupled Receptor-mediated Chemotaxis and its Signaling Events in Neutrophil-like HL60 Cells

Published on: September 14, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Imaging G-protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR)-mediated Signaling Events that Control Chemotaxis of Dictyostelium Discoideum
09:40

Imaging G-protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR)-mediated Signaling Events that Control Chemotaxis of Dictyostelium Discoideum

Published on: September 20, 2011

A Microfluidic Device for Quantifying Bacterial Chemotaxis in Stable Concentration Gradients
09:28

A Microfluidic Device for Quantifying Bacterial Chemotaxis in Stable Concentration Gradients

Published on: April 19, 2010

Imaging G Protein-coupled Receptor-mediated Chemotaxis and its Signaling Events in Neutrophil-like HL60 Cells
08:24

Imaging G Protein-coupled Receptor-mediated Chemotaxis and its Signaling Events in Neutrophil-like HL60 Cells

Published on: September 14, 2016

Area of Science:

  • Cellular biology
  • Biophysics
  • Information theory

Background:

  • Eukaryotic cells navigate chemical gradients using surface receptors.
  • Chemotaxis accuracy depends on inferring gradients from receptor distribution.
  • Signal noise from receptor occupancy and intracellular processing limits sensing precision.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To apply information theory to quantify information transmission in chemotaxis.
  • To derive bounds on information transfer during gradient sensing.
  • To analyze information loss in eukaryotic cell directional sensing.

Main Methods:

  • Modeling chemotaxis as a Markovian communication channel.
  • Deriving mutual information between gradient direction and bound receptor distribution.
  • Computing mutual information between gradient direction and cell motility using three models.

Main Results:

  • An expression for mutual information between gradient direction and receptor distribution was derived.
  • Mutual information between gradient direction and motility was computed for different cell motion models.
  • Quantified information loss across various stages of directional sensing.

Conclusions:

  • Information theory provides a framework to bound information transmission in chemotaxis.
  • Noise fundamentally limits the precision of gradient sensing in eukaryotic cells.
  • Understanding information loss is crucial for deciphering cellular decision-making in response to chemical cues.