Information Transfer through Calcium Signaling

In this paper, we discuss information transfer through calcium signaling, one form of molecular communication that is ubiquitously used in natural biological systems and that is potentially useful to design synthetic biological systems. We use a mathematical model to describe a molecular communication system in which a transmitter communicates information with the receiver over a calcium signaling channel. Mutual information between transmitter and receiver is then used to calculate the amount of information transfer from the transmitter to the receiver. An example simulation result is provided to illustrate how we measure the amount of information transferred over a calcium signaling channel. Our approach may further develop an understanding of design principles of biological systems as well as help design synthetic biological systems.