Reliability of frequency- and amplitude-decoding in gene regulation

Abstract

In biochemical signaling, information is often encoded in oscillatory signals. However, the advantages of such a coding strategy over an amplitude encoding scheme of constant signals remain unclear. Here we study the dynamics of a simple model gene promoter in response to oscillating and constant transcription factor signals. We find that in biologically-relevant parameter regimes an oscillating input can produce a more constant protein level than a constant input. Our results suggest that oscillating signals may be used to minimize noise in gene regulation.

arXiv comment5 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Signal detection, modularity and the correlation between extrinsic and intrinsic noise in biochemical networks
• Exact results for noise power spectra in linear biochemical reaction networks

Cited by in corpus (5)

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• Unraveling Adaptation in Eukaryotic Pathways: Lessons from Protocells
• Accurate encoding and decoding by single cells: amplitude versus frequency modulation
• Multiplexing oscillatory biochemical signals
• Optimal temporal patterns for dynamical cellular signaling