Out-of-equilibrium dynamics of gene expression and the Jarzynski equality

In order to express specific genes at the right time, the transcription of genes is regulated by the presence and absence of transcription factor molecules. With transcription factor concentrations undergoing constant changes, gene transcription takes place out of equilibrium. In this Letter we discuss a simple mapping between dynamic models of gene expression and stochastic systems driven out of equilibrium. Using this mapping, results of out-of-equilibrium statistical mechanics such as the Jarzynski equality and the fluctuation theorem are demonstrated for gene expression dynamics. Applications of this approach include the determination of regulatory interactions between genes from experimental gene expression data.