Premium
Positive feedback in cellular control systems
Author(s) -
Mitrophanov Alexander Y.,
Groisman Eduardo A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.20769
Subject(s) - positive feedback , negative feedback , virulence , biology , bistability , microbiology and biotechnology , feedback control , variety (cybernetics) , hysteresis , regulator , feedback loop , control theory (sociology) , control (management) , genetics , computer science , gene , physics , engineering , control engineering , computer security , quantum mechanics , voltage , artificial intelligence , electrical engineering
Feedback loops have been identified in a variety of regulatory systems and organisms. While feedback loops of the same type (negative or positive) tend to have properties in common, they can play distinctively diverse roles in different regulatory systems, where they can affect virulence in a pathogenic bacterium, maturation patterns of vertebrate oocytes and transitions through cell cycle phases in eukaryotic cells. This review focuses on the properties and functions of positive feedback in biological systems, including bistability, hysteresis and activation surges. BioEssays 30:542–555, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.