Signal transduction pathways are used to transfer information by

biochemical means between different parts (in the spatial, topological

and biochemical senses) of a living cell. How does the structure of a

pathway determine the processing of the information? Is this processing

unique to each given pathway variety? What are the constraints imposed

on the information processing? I will address these questions using the

examples of the NF-kappaB and MAPK pathways, discussing in detail the

signaling events and the corresponding outcomes reflected in gene

expression profiles.