Signal transduction in biological channels

A purely deterministic description of cell activities, such as active and passive transport of ions through ion channels in the cell membrane etc is impossible due to an enormous number of degrees of freedom involved. A description in terms of stochastic processes is thus a necessity.

Noise (a stochastic process involved in the dynamics) has has long been regarded merely as a source of disorder, leading to a deteriorated performance of dynamical mechanisms. However, it has now become generally accepted that noise can also have a constructive role, leading to an enhancement, rather than deterioration, of dynamical features.

Cooperative effects of deterministic and stochastic processes can manifest as a stochastic resonance, in which the system's output can be optimised by noise. Other aspects involve molecular motors and transport in ion channels.

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