title: Morphogen gradient from a noisy source.
abstract: We investigate the effect of time-dependent noise on the shape of a morphogen gradient in a developing embryo. Perturbation theory is used to calculate the deviations from deterministic behavior in a simple reaction-diffusion model of robust gradient formation, and the results are confirmed by numerical simulation. It is shown that such deviations can disrupt robustness for sufficiently high noise levels, and the implications of these findings for more complex models of gradient-shaping pathways are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of Oxford, Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, 1 Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3NP, UK.
authors.forename: Jeremy L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: England
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cardy
mesh_terms: D004058:Diffusion; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology*; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D006133:Growth Substances