title: Improving the speed of the genetic toggle switch without sacrificing its dynamic stability.
abstract: Determinants of the switching speed of the genetic toggle switch remain unknown. Analysis shows that the decay rate of proteins predominantly sets the speed limit, but its modification introduces a trade-off between increased speed and decreased bistability. Incorporating protein-modifying enzymes into the switch gives extra degrees of freedom to address this trade-off. The condition for bistability when such enzymes are incorporated is derived. Under this condition, speed increases with the maximal rate of gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. jrchen@fas.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Jiunn R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D042822:Genomic Instability / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins