dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaDesigning sequential transcription logic: a simple genetic circuit for conditional memory
| Authors | Georg Fritz, Nicolas E. Buchler, Terence Hwa, Ulrich Gerland |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0701011 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0701011 |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11693-007-9006-8 |
| Journal | Syst Synth Biol (2007) 1:89-98 |
| License | http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/ |
Abstract
The ability to learn and respond to recurrent events depends on the capacity to remember transient biological signals received in the past. Moreover, it may be desirable to remember or ignore these transient signals conditioned upon other signals that are active at specific points in time or in unique environments. Here, we propose a simple genetic circuit in bacteria that is capable of conditionally memorizing a signal in the form of a transcription factor concentration. The circuit behaves similarly to a "data latch" in an electronic circuit, i.e. it reads and stores an input signal only when conditioned to do so by a "read command". Our circuit is of the same size as the well-known genetic toggle switch (an unconditional latch) which consists of two mutually repressing genes, but is complemented with a "regulatory front end" involving protein heterodimerization as a simple way to implement conditional control. Deterministic and stochastic analysis of the circuit dynamics indicate that an experimental implementation is feasible based on well-characterized genes and proteins. It is not known, to which extent molecular networks are able to conditionally store information in natural contexts for bacteria. However, our results suggest that such sequential logic elements may be readily implemented by cells through the combination of existing protein-protein interactions and simple transcriptional regulation.
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"abstract": "The ability to learn and respond to recurrent events depends on the capacity\nto remember transient biological signals received in the past. Moreover, it may\nbe desirable to remember or ignore these transient signals conditioned upon\nother signals that are active at specific points in time or in unique\nenvironments. Here, we propose a simple genetic circuit in bacteria that is\ncapable of conditionally memorizing a signal in the form of a transcription\nfactor concentration. The circuit behaves similarly to a \"data latch\" in an\nelectronic circuit, i.e. it reads and stores an input signal only when\nconditioned to do so by a \"read command\". Our circuit is of the same size as\nthe well-known genetic toggle switch (an unconditional latch) which consists of\ntwo mutually repressing genes, but is complemented with a \"regulatory front\nend\" involving protein heterodimerization as a simple way to implement\nconditional control. Deterministic and stochastic analysis of the circuit\ndynamics indicate that an experimental implementation is feasible based on\nwell-characterized genes and proteins. It is not known, to which extent\nmolecular networks are able to conditionally store information in natural\ncontexts for bacteria. However, our results suggest that such sequential logic\nelements may be readily implemented by cells through the combination of\nexisting protein-protein interactions and simple transcriptional regulation.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0701011",
"authors": [
"Georg Fritz",
"Nicolas E. Buchler",
"Terence Hwa",
"Ulrich Gerland"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.MN"
],
"doi": "10.1007/s11693-007-9006-8",
"journal_ref": "Syst Synth Biol (2007) 1:89-98",
"license": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
"title": "Designing sequential transcription logic: a simple genetic circuit for conditional memory",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0701011"
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