Non-equilibrium thermodynamics of biological signal transduction predicts conservation of entropy production rate

Abstract

Studies have reported that bio-cellular signal transduction can be investigated based on thermodynamics. This short article aims to consider signal transduction carried out by signaling molecules from the perspective of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Under conditions in which total entropy production rate was minimized, the entropy production rate per signaling molecule was conserved independently of the steps during signal transduction. Accordingly, the conserved production rate can be defined as the channel capacity of the given signal transduction cascade. Non- equilibrium thermodynamics provides a theoretical framework for cell signal transduction.