Work

Heterodimer Autorepression Loop: A Robust and Flexible Pulse-Generating Genetic Module

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: We investigate the dynamics of the heterodimer autorepression loop (HAL), a small genetic module in which a protein A acts as an autorepressor and binds to a second protein B to form an AB dimer. For suitable values of the rate constants, the HAL produces pulses of A alternating with pulses of B. By means of analytical and numerical calculations, we show that the duration of A pulses is extremely robust against variation of the rate constants while the duration of the B pulses can be flexibly adjusted. The HAL is thus a minimal genetic module generating robust pulses with a tunable duration, an interesting property for cellular signaling.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.117.018102

Authors: B. Lannoo, E. Carlon, M. Lefranc

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Lille, Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules, KU Leuven

Language: English

Topic: Gene Regulatory Network Analysis

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Agence Nationale de la Recherche, KU Leuven, Ministère de l'Education Nationale, de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche

Awards: G1989634639, Centre Européen pour les Mathématiques, la Physique et leurs Interactions