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

Overview of Cell Signaling01:23

Overview of Cell Signaling

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate with the environment.
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
Overview of Cell Signaling01:23

Overview of Cell Signaling

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate with the environment.
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
Cell-surface Signaling01:21

Cell-surface Signaling

Hormones—or any molecule that binds to a receptor, known as a ligand—that are lipid-insoluble (water-soluble) are not able to diffuse across the cell membrane. In order to be able to affect a cell without entering it, these hormones bind to receptors on the cell membrane. When a first messenger, a hormone, binds to a receptor, a signal cascade is set off, causing second messengers, proteins inside the cell, to become activated, resulting in downstream effects.
Overview of Cell-Matrix Interactions01:24

Overview of Cell-Matrix Interactions

The extracellular matrix or ECM holds cells together to form a tissue and allows the cells within the tissue to communicate. ECM comprises proteins such as fibronectin, collagen, laminin, etc. The most abundant protein in this space is collagen. Collagen fibers are interwoven with carbohydrate-containing protein molecules called proteoglycans. ECM allows cell migration and provides a structural scaffold at cell adhesion that anchors the cell when the extracellular matrix proteins interact with...
What is Cell Signaling?02:03

What is Cell Signaling?

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate to respond to the environment.
What is Cell Signaling?02:03

What is Cell Signaling?

Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate to respond to the environment.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Multimodal optical imaging combining voltage-sensitive dye ElectroFluor630 with genetically encoded calcium, glutamate, or voltage indicators.

Neurophotonics·2026
Same author

Asymmetric division sustains stem cell heterogeneity in the Drosophila testicular niche.

Communications biology·2026
Same author

Mesoscale simulations of membrane-tethered reactions to parameterize cell-scale models of signaling.

Biophysical journal·2026
Same author

Protocol to evaluate a lineage marking system in the Drosophila testis.

STAR protocols·2026
Same author

NMRhub: An NMR Data Ecosystem Spanning the Complete Data Lifecycle.

Journal of molecular biology·2026
Same author

From FAIR to CURE: guidelines for computational models of biological systems.

NPJ systems biology and applications·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity
07:13

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity

Published on: May 18, 2020

Spatial modeling of cell signaling networks.

Ann E Cowan1, Ion I Moraru, James C Schaff

  • 1R D Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut Heath Center, Farmington, CT, USA.

Methods in Cell Biology
|April 10, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Spatial modeling in cell signaling incorporates cell geometry and molecular dynamics into mathematical models. This approach enhances understanding of cellular behavior and aids in interpreting experimental results, particularly in neuroscience.

More Related Videos

A Combined 3D Tissue Engineered In Vitro/In Silico Lung Tumor Model for Predicting Drug Effectiveness in Specific Mutational Backgrounds
13:34

A Combined 3D Tissue Engineered In Vitro/In Silico Lung Tumor Model for Predicting Drug Effectiveness in Specific Mutational Backgrounds

Published on: April 6, 2016

JUMPn: A Streamlined Application for Protein Co-Expression Clustering and Network Analysis in Proteomics
07:28

JUMPn: A Streamlined Application for Protein Co-Expression Clustering and Network Analysis in Proteomics

Published on: October 19, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 23, 2026

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity
07:13

3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity

Published on: May 18, 2020

A Combined 3D Tissue Engineered In Vitro/In Silico Lung Tumor Model for Predicting Drug Effectiveness in Specific Mutational Backgrounds
13:34

A Combined 3D Tissue Engineered In Vitro/In Silico Lung Tumor Model for Predicting Drug Effectiveness in Specific Mutational Backgrounds

Published on: April 6, 2016

JUMPn: A Streamlined Application for Protein Co-Expression Clustering and Network Analysis in Proteomics
07:28

JUMPn: A Streamlined Application for Protein Co-Expression Clustering and Network Analysis in Proteomics

Published on: October 19, 2021

Area of Science:

  • Computational biology
  • Cellular and Molecular Physiology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Cellular behavior arises from molecular interactions influenced by spatial features like cell shape and subcellular organization.
  • Mechanistic mathematical models are crucial for understanding complex cell signaling pathways.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate incorporating spatial features into mechanistic mathematical models of cell signaling.
  • To guide the selection of appropriate modeling formulations (implicit/explicit geometry, deterministic/stochastic dynamics).

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing Virtual Cell software for computational modeling and simulation.
  • Specifying network geometry, molecules, reactions, and membrane fluxes.
  • Defining initial conditions, diffusion coefficients, velocities, and boundary conditions.
  • Describing deterministic and stochastic numerical methods for reaction-diffusion problems.

Main Results:

  • Provides a framework for constructing spatial models of cell signaling.
  • Illustrates the application of spatial modeling to cAMP signaling in neurons.
  • Highlights the strengths and weaknesses of different physical and dynamic formulations.

Conclusions:

  • Spatial modeling is essential for accurately representing cellular processes and predicting behavior.
  • This approach offers valuable insights into interpreting experimental data in cell signaling research.
  • The methods discussed enable the creation of robust and informative spatial models.