Department of Systemic Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2010 Feb;20(1):31-40. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2009.12.006. Epub 2010 Jan 22.
The computational properties of intracellular biochemical networks, for which the cell is assumed to be a 'well-mixed' reactor, have already been widely characterized. What has so far not received systematic treatment is the important role of space in many intracellular computations. Spatial network computations can be divided into two broad categories: those required for essential spatial processes (e.g. polarization, chemotaxis, division, and development) and those for which space is simply used as an extra dimension to expand the computational power of the network. Several pertinent recent examples of each category are discussed that illustrate the often conceptually subtle role of space in the processing of intracellular information.
细胞内生化网络的计算特性，即细胞被假设为一个“充分混合”的反应器，已经得到了广泛的描述。到目前为止，还没有系统地研究空间在许多细胞内计算中的重要作用。空间网络计算可以分为两大类：一类是必需的空间过程（如极化、趋化性、分裂和发育）所必需的，另一类是仅仅将空间用作扩展网络计算能力的额外维度。讨论了每一类的几个相关的最近的例子，说明了空间在细胞内信息处理中的概念上的微妙作用。
