Mapping the dynamic transfer functions of eukaryotic gene regulation
Jessica B Lee1, Leandra M Caywood1, Jennifer Y Lo1
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
Cell Systems
|September 1, 2021
Summary
Researchers quantified information transfer across eukaryotic promoters, revealing a limit of ~1.7 bits. They demonstrated that chromatin regulators can tune gene expression and alter promoter function, unlocking insights into biological information processing.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Systems Biology
- Epigenetics
Background:
- Biological information is encoded in signaling dynamics, influencing key processes like stress response and stem cell differentiation.
- Understanding information transfer in eukaryotic gene regulation is crucial for deciphering complex cellular functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the information transfer limit across a single eukaryotic promoter.
- To investigate how dynamic conditions and chromatin state affect gene expression and information processing.
Main Methods:
- Screened 119 dynamic conditions by modulating light pulse frequency, amplitude, and width to control an epigenome editor's binding to a fluorescent reporter.
- Utilized a library of over 100 orthogonal chromatin regulators to modulate chromatin state.
Main Results:
- Revealed tunable gene expression and filtering behaviors in response to dynamic inputs.
- Quantified the information transfer limit across a single promoter at approximately 1.7 bits.
- Demonstrated that chromatin state can tune mutual information, expression levels, and alter the promoter's input-output transfer function.
Conclusions:
- Eukaryotic gene regulation is rich in information, with a quantifiable limit to its transfer.
- Chromatin regulators offer a powerful mechanism to precisely control gene expression dynamics and information flow.
- This study provides a novel system for exploring the quantitative aspects of biological information processing at the promoter level.
Keywords:
chromatinepigenome editingmutual informationoptogeneticspulsatilesignal filteringsynthetic biologytransfer functionMore Related Videos
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