Information processing in cells and biological tissues

Group Leader

Dr. Luis G. Morelli
See CV

PhD Students

Marcos Wappner.

The main questions of our group are: How do cells sense, process information and take decisions? How is information shared among cells and used to orchestrate collective behaviors, for example during embryonic development or in adult tissues?

We are interested in the mechanisms that control information processing at different levels of biological organization. We approach these questions using model systems from developmental biology, embryonic stem cells and neuronal microcircuits, establishing close collaborations with experimental labs.

We employ theoretical approaches to study the dynamics of cellular information processing at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels. We are also interested in how different levels of biological organization are connected, and how they mutually regulate each other. We use and develop methods from dynamical systems theory, stochastic processes and out of equilibrium statistical physics.

Publications related to this Project

  • D. M. Arribas, A. Marin-Burgin, L. G. Morelli
    Adult-born granule cells improve stimulus encoding and discrimination in the dentate gyrus
    eLife 12:e80250 (2023).
  • S. M. Fernández Arancibia, A. C. Oates, S. Schulte-Merker and L. G. Morelli
    Reaction wavefront theory of notochord segment patterning
    Front. Phys. 10:933915 (2022).
  • D. Raina§, F. Fabris§, L. G. Morelli* and C. Schröter*
    Intermittent ERK oscillations downstream of FGF in mouse embryonic stem cells
    Development, 149 dev199710 (2022).
    * – co-corresponding author, § – equal contribution
  • K Uriu, B-K Liao, AC Oates and LG Morelli
    From local resynchronization to global pattern recovery in the zebrafish segmentation clock
    eLife 10:e61358 (2021)
  • Petrungaro G,  Uriu K, Morelli LG.
    Synchronization dynamics of mobile oscillators in the presence of coupling delays.
    Phys. Rev. E 99:062207 (2019).
  • I. M. Lengyel and L. G. Morelli
    Multiple binding sites for transcriptional repressors can produce regular bursting and enhance noise suppression
    Phys. Rev. E 95 042412 (2017).
  • A. B. Webb, I. M. Lengyel, D. J. Jörg, G. Valentin, F. Jülicher, L. G. Morelli and A. C. Oates
    Persistence, period and precision of autonomous cellular oscillators from the zebrafish segmentation clock
    eLife 5:e08438 (2016).
  • D. Soroldoni, D. J. Jörg, L. G. Morelli, D. L. Richmond, J. Schindelin, F. Jülicher, and A. C. Oates
    A Doppler effect in embryonic pattern formation
    Science 345, 222–225 (2014).
  • D. Jörg, L. G. Morelli, S. Ares, and F. Jülicher
    Synchronization dynamics in the presence of coupling delays and phase shifts
    Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 174101 (2014).
  • C. Schröter, S. Ares*, L. G. Morelli*, A. Isakova, K. Hens, D. Soroldoni, M. Gajewski, F. Jülicher, S. J. Maerkl, B. Deplancke and A. C. Oates
    Topology and dynamics of the zebrafish segmentation clock core circuit
    PLoS Biol. 10(7), e1001364 (2012).
  • A. C. Oates, L. G. Morelli and S. AresPatterning embryos with oscillations: the emerging structure, function, and dynamics of the vertebrate segmentation clock
    Development 139, 625-639 (2012).
  • L. Herrgen, S. Ares, L. G. Morelli, C. Schröter, F. Jülicher and A. C. Oates
    Intercellular coupling regulates the period of the segmentation clock
    Current Biology 20, 1244-1253 (2010).
  • L. G. Morelli*, S. Ares*, L. Herrgen, C. Schröter, F. Jülicher and A. C. Oates
    Delayed coupling theory of vertebrate segmentation
    HFSP Journal, 3, 55-66 (2009).