title: Intron length increases oscillatory periods of gene expression in animal cells.
abstract: Introns may affect gene expression by increasing the time required to transcribe the gene. One way for extended transcription times to affect the behavior of a gene expression program is through a negative feedback loop. Here, we show that a logically engineered negative feedback loop in animal cells produces expression pulses, which have a broad time distribution that increases with intron length. These results in combination with mathematical models provide insight into what may produce the intron-dependent pulse distributions. We conclude that the long production time required for large intron-containing genes is significant for the behavior of gene expression programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Swinburne
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Miguez
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Landgraf
authors.forename: Pamela A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Silver
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D025461:Feedback, Physiological; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007438:Introns; D051379:Mice; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010507:Periodicity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic