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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

An Optogenetic Method to Control and Analyze Gene Expression Patterns in Cell-to-cell Interactions
Published on: March 22, 2018
Oscillations and temporal signalling in cells
G Tiana1, S Krishna, S Pigolotti
1Department of Physics, University of Milano and INFN, Milano, Italy.
Abstract:
The development of new techniques to quantitatively measure gene expression in cells has shed light on a number of systems that display oscillations in protein concentration. Here we review the different mechanisms which can produce oscillations in gene expression or protein concentration using a framework of simple mathematical models. We focus on three eukaryotic genetic regulatory networks which show 'ultradian' oscillations, with a time period of the order of hours, and involve, respectively, proteins important for development (Hes1), apoptosis (p53) and immune response (NF-kappaB). We argue that underlying all three is a common design consisting of a negative feedback loop with time delay which is responsible for the oscillatory behaviour.
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