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Updated: Aug 8, 2025
08:24
The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
781
Competing constraints shape the nonequilibrium limits of cellular decision-making
Nicholas C Lammers1, Avi I Flamholz2, Hernan G Garcia1,3,4,5,6
1Biophysics Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, CA 904720.
Summary
Energy dissipation in gene regulation speeds up cellular decisions by enhancing information transmission. This kinetic modeling reveals distinct strategies for maximizing information under low or high interference from non-specific activators.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Systems Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Gene regulation is crucial for cellular function, yet quantitative models predicting transcriptional control from molecular interactions are lacking.
- Thermodynamic equilibrium models, successful in bacteria, may be insufficient for eukaryotes due to ATP-dependent processes.
- Eukaryotic gene circuits must sense and respond to transcription factor concentrations, a process potentially limited by equilibrium assumptions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how energy dissipation in the transcriptional cycle impacts information transmission rates in gene regulation.
- To explore the role of kinetic models in understanding eukaryotic gene circuit responses to transcription factor inputs.
- To determine how energy input affects gene loci information transmission under varying levels of noncognate activator binding interference.
Main Methods:
- Utilized simple kinetic models of transcription to simulate gene regulation dynamics.
- Analyzed the impact of energy dissipation within the transcriptional cycle on information transmission.
- Compared model predictions under conditions of low and high interference from noncognate activator binding.
Main Results:
- Biologically relevant energy input significantly increases the speed of information transmission by gene loci.
- The mechanisms for enhanced information transmission vary with the level of interference from noncognate activators.
- At low interference, energy boosts sensitivity beyond equilibrium limits; at high interference, energy enhances specificity via proofreading.
Conclusions:
- Kinetic models incorporating energy dissipation provide a more accurate framework for eukaryotic gene regulation than equilibrium models.
- Energy dissipation is essential for rapid and specific gene regulation, especially in the presence of significant noncognate factor interference.
- Equilibrium-based regulatory mechanisms fail under high transcriptional interference, highlighting the indispensable role of energy dissipation.
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