Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 22, 2026

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
Published on: February 16, 2017
Systems Biology Analysis of Heterocellular Signaling
1The Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK; Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Tissues comprise multiple heterotypic cell types (e.g., epithelial, mesenchymal, and immune cells). Communication between heterotypic cell types is essential for biological cohesion and is frequently dysregulated in disease. Despite the importance of heterocellular communication, most systems biology techniques do not report cell-specific signaling data from mixtures of cells. As a result, our existing perspective of cellular behavior under-represents the influence of heterocellular signaling. Recent technical advances now permit the resolution of systems-level cell-specific signaling data. This review discusses how new physical, spatial, and isotopic resolving methods are facilitating unique systems biology studies of heterocellular communication.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Cell Signaling
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 Signaling
What is Cell Signaling?
What is Cell Signaling?
Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
Chemical Signaling in the Endocrine System
Lipid-soluble hormones, such as steroid hormones, demonstrate an intracellular action. These hormones traverse cell membranes due to their lipid nature. Once inside the target cell, they...

