05656547

j

05656547 Besozzi, Daniela Busi, Nadia Cazzaniga, Paolo Ferretti, Claudio Leporati, Alberto Mauri, Giancarlo Pescini, Dario Zandron, Claudio (Tissue) P systems with cell polarity. Math. Struct. Comput. Sci. 19, No. 6, 1141-1160 (2009). 2009 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge EN tissue P systems with cell polarity

doi:10.1017/S0960129509990156

Summary: We consider the structure of the intestinal epithelial tissue and of cell-cell junctions as the biological model inspiring a new class of P systems. First we define the concept of cell polarity, a formal property derived from epithelial cells, which present morphologically and functionally distinct regions of the plasma membrane. Then we show two preliminary results for this new model of computation: on the theoretical side, we show that P systems with cell polarity are computationally (Turing) complete; on the modelling side, we show that the transepithelial movement of glucose from the intestinal lumen into the blood can be described by such a formal system. Finally, we define tissue P systems with cell polarity, where each cell has fixed connections to the neighbouring cells and to the environment, according to both the cell polarity and specific cell-cell junctions.