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Measuring the Kinetics of mRNA Transcription in Single Living Cells
Published on: August 25, 2011
The coherent feedforward loop serves as a sign-sensitive delay element in transcription networks
1Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Journal of Molecular Biology
|November 11, 2003
Summary
Coherent feedforward loops, common in gene regulation, act as sign-sensitive delay elements. This biological circuit filters noisy inputs, enabling faster responses to certain stimuli, crucial for cellular decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Systems Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Network motifs are recurring patterns in biological regulatory networks.
- Coherent feedforward loops (CFFLs) are significant network motifs.
- CFFLs were theoretically proposed to function as sign-sensitive delay elements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally validate the proposed function of CFFLs as sign-sensitive delay elements.
- To investigate the role of CFFLs in cellular information processing.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the L-arabinose utilization system of Escherichia coli as an experimental model.
- Employed green fluorescent protein reporters for high-resolution measurements.
- Applied step-like cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) stimuli.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that the arabinose system exhibits sign-sensitive delay kinetics.
- Showcased the ability of the CFFL to respond with a delay to specific input changes.
- Confirmed the filtering of noisy inputs while allowing rapid responses.
Conclusions:
- The coherent feedforward loop functions as a sign-sensitive delay element in living cells.
- This information-processing capability is vital for making decisions in the presence of noisy biological signals.
- CFFLs may perform crucial regulatory roles across diverse organisms.
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