A Model for Carrier-Mediated Biological Signal Transduction Based on Equilibrium Ligand Binding Theory

Different variants of a mathematical model for carrier-mediated signal transduction are introduced with focus on the odor dose–electrophysiological response curve of insect olfaction. The latter offers a unique opportunity to observe experimentally the effect of an alteration in the carrier molecule composition on the signal molecule-dependent response curve. Our work highlights the role of involved carrier molecules, which have largely been ignored in mathematical models for response curves in the past. The resulting model explains how the involvement of more than one carrier molecule in signal molecule transport can cause dose–response curves as observed in experiments, without the need of more than one receptor per neuron. In particular, the model has the following features: (1) An extended sensitivity range of neuronal response is implemented by a system consisting of only one receptor but several carrier molecules with different affinities for the signal molecule. (2) Given that the sensitivity range is extended by the involvement of different carrier molecules, the model implies that a strong difference in the expression levels of the carrier molecules is absolutely essential for wide range responses. (3) Complex changes in dose–response curves which can be observed when the expression levels of carrier molecules are altered experimentally can be explained by interactions between different carrier molecules. The principles we demonstrate here for electrophysiological responses can also be applied to any other carrier-mediated biological signal transduction process. The presented concept provides a framework for modeling and statistical analysis of signal transduction processes if sufficient information on the underlying biology is available.