Abstract
Biological systems often need to respond to external stimuli or to hormonal signals of reduced magnitude. A sizeable response to such stimuli requires a process of amplification. Two types of amplification have been recognized [1,2]. Magnitudi amplification refers to the absolute numbers of output molecules which can be much larger than the size of the input, A good example is provided by the first steps of the visual response to light [3]. There, a single photolyzed molecule of the photoreceptor rhodopsin can activate hundreds of phosphodiesterase molecules. Each of these enzyme molecules can in turn hydrolyze some 103 molecules of cylic GMP, so that a total amplification factor of the order of 105 can be obtained. Further examples of magnitude amplification abound in cellular physiology, another being the response to hormone signals via the increase in cyclic AMP wnich stimulates the phosphorylation of various substrates by protein kinases [1].
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Decroly, O., Goldbeter, A. (1984). Patterns of Nonequilibrium Sensitivity in Biological Systems. In: Horsthemke, W., Kondepudi, D.K. (eds) Fluctuations and Sensitivity in Nonequilibrium Systems. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46508-6_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46508-6_23
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