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Importance of signal duration and the time scale dependence of signal integration in biochemical networks
Author(s) -
Locasale Jason W,
Chakraborty Arup K
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.616.2
Subject(s) - duration (music) , signal (programming language) , regulator , downstream (manufacturing) , computer science , biological system , complex network , biology , physics , genetics , engineering , acoustics , programming language , operations management , world wide web , gene
Signal duration (i.e. the time over which an active signaling intermediate persists) is a key regulator of biological decisions in myriad contexts such as cell growth, proliferation, and developmental lineage commitments. Accompanying differences in signal duration are numerous downstream biological processes that require multiple steps of biochemical regulation. Here, we present a theoretical analysis that investigates how simple biochemical motifs that involve multiple stages of regulation can be constructed to differentially process signals that persist at different time scales. We compute power spectra of the dynamic gain within these networks to better understand how biochemical networks can integrate signals at different time scales. We identify the topological features of these networks that allow for differential, frequency dependent signal processing. Our studies suggest design principles for why signal duration in connection with multiple steps of downstream regulation is a ubiquitous control motif in biochemical systems.