The cell membrane is covered by dedicated proteins called receptors which are able to specificly bind to a molecule diffusing in the immediate vicinity of the cell, the ligand. Once bound, the ligand-receptor complexes induces a biochemical cascade of reactions, which adapt the cellular
activity. This ligand-receptor interaction mediates what is therefore called cell signalling.
Receptors diffuse freely on the membrane which is in fluid-phase. Nevertheless, the observed receptor repartition is not homogeneous on cell surface. This raises questions about how the spatial configuration of a system of receptors may impact the cell response, as it may have effects on the ligand-receptor interactions as well as on the interactions between receptors themselves, or between receptors and other actors of cell signalling.
By means of individual-based models, the complex dynamics of early stages of cell signalling at the membrane scale can be recreated and studied, where different hypothesis of interest can be implemented and tested. The models proposed will therefore produce possible exploratory tracks for biological experiments, and support the development of new mathematical frameworks for
pharmacodynamics.