Dataset Information

Listening to the noise: random fluctuations reveal gene network parameters.

ABSTRACT: The cellular environment is abuzz with noise originating from the inherent random motion of reacting molecules in the living cell. In this noisy environment, clonal cell populations show cell-to-cell variability that can manifest significant phenotypic differences. Noise-induced stochastic fluctuations in cellular constituents can be measured and their statistics quantified. We show that these random fluctuations carry within them valuable information about the underlying genetic network. Far from being a nuisance, the ever-present cellular noise acts as a rich source of excitation that, when processed through a gene network, carries its distinctive fingerprint that encodes a wealth of information about that network. We show that in some cases the analysis of these random fluctuations enables the full identification of network parameters, including those that may otherwise be difficult to measure. This establishes a potentially powerful approach for the identification of gene networks and offers a new window into the workings of these networks.

SUBMITTER: Munsky B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2779089 | biostudies-other | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Listening to the noise: random fluctuations reveal gene network parameters.

Munsky Brian B Trinh Brooke B Khammash Mustafa M

Molecular systems biology 20091013

The cellular environment is abuzz with noise originating from the inherent random motion of reacting molecules in the living cell. In this noisy environment, clonal cell populations show cell-to-cell variability that can manifest significant phenotypic differences. Noise-induced stochastic fluctuations in cellular constituents can be measured and their statistics quantified. We show that these random fluctuations carry within them valuable information about the underlying genetic network. Far fr ...[more]

PMID: 19888213

Similar Datasets

Project description:Evolution requires phenotypic variation in a population of organisms for selection to function. Gene regulatory processes involved in organismal development affect the phenotypic diversity of organisms. Since only a fraction of all possible phenotypes are predicted to be accessed by the end of development, organisms may evolve strategies to use environmental cues and noise-like fluctuations to produce additional phenotypic diversity, and hence to enhance the speed of adaptation. We used a generic model of organismal development --gene regulatory networks-- to investigate how different levels of noise on gene expression states (i.e. phenotypes) may affect access to new, unique phenotypes, thereby affecting phenotypic diversity. We studied additional strategies that organisms might adopt to attain larger phenotypic diversity: either by augmenting their genome or the number of gene expression states. This was done for different types of gene regulatory networks that allow for distinct levels of regulatory influence on gene expression or are more likely to give rise to stable phenotypes. We found that if gene expression is binary, increasing noise levels generally decreases phenotype accessibility for all network types studied. If more gene expression states are considered, noise can moderately enhance the speed of discovery if three or four gene expression states are allowed, and if there are enough distinct regulatory networks in the population. These results were independent of the network types analyzed, and were robust to different implementations of noise. Hence, for noise to increase the number of accessible phenotypes in gene regulatory networks, very specific conditions need to be satisfied. If the number of distinct regulatory networks involved in organismal development is large enough, and the acquisition of more genes or fine tuning of their expression states proves costly to the organism, noise can be useful in allowing access to more unique phenotypes.

Dataset Information

Listening to the noise: random fluctuations reveal gene network parameters.

Publications

Listening to the noise: random fluctuations reveal gene network parameters.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets