The living cell uses a variety of molecular receptors and signaling networks to read and process chemical signals that may vary in space and time. We model the dynamics of such molecular level measurements as Markov processes in steady state, with a unidirectional coupling between the receptor and the signal. We prove exactly that, when the receptor system does not perturb the signal dynamics , the free energy consumed by the measurement process is lower bounded by the product of the mutual informationand the time-scale of signal dynamics. Our results apply to arbitrary network topologies and transition rates , and therefore should hold as a general principle for biomolecular information processing .
The living cell uses a variety of molecular receptors and signaling networks to read and process chemical signals that may vary in space and time. We model the dynamics of such molecular level measurements as Markov processes in steady state, with a coupling between the receptor and the signal. We prove exactly that, when the the signal dynamics is not perturbed by the receptors, lower bounded by a quantity proportional to the mutual information. Our result is completely independent of the receptor architecture and dependent on signal properties alone , and therefore holds as a general principle for molecular information processing. A Maxwell's Demon performing non-perturbing measurements must produce entropy at a rate greater than or equal to our bound, irrespective of how it is designed .
D
unidirectional
D
receptor system does not perturb
R
, the free energy consumed by the measurement process is
is not perturbed by the receptors,
R
the product of the mutual informationand the time-scale of signal dynamics. Our results apply to arbitrary network topologies and transition rates
a quantity proportional to the mutual information. Our result is completely independent of the receptor architecture and dependent on signal properties alone
R
should hold
holds
R
biomolecular information processing
molecular information processing. A Maxwell's Demon performing non-perturbing measurements must produce entropy at a rate greater than or equal to our bound, irrespective of how it is designed