Optimal control of protein copy number

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Systems Biology
• Chemical Signaling

Background:

• Cell-cell communication relies on signaling molecules binding to receptors.
• G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are key mediators, altering cytosolic protein affinity and chemical potential upon ligand binding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze minimum-dissipation schedules for dynamic chemical potential changes.
• To induce steady-state changes in protein copy-number distributions.
• To provide a framework for understanding and predicting functional cell-cell interactions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of minimum-dissipation schedules for dynamic chemical potential.
• Application of analytic solutions to linear chemical reaction networks.
• Modeling of receptor-ligand interactions and their downstream effects on protein distributions.

Main Results:

• Identified specific schedules for dynamic chemical potential that lead to steady-state protein distributions.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of these protocols on biologically relevant timescales.
• Provided a theoretical framework for optogenetically controlled cell-cell communication.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic control of chemical potential offers a powerful method for regulating cell-cell communication.
• The developed framework predicts outcomes of optogenetically manipulated signaling pathways.
• This approach opens new avenues for engineering dynamic cellular functions and interactions.