title: Reliability of frequency and amplitude decoding in gene regulation.
abstract: In biochemical signaling, information is often encoded in oscillatory signals. However, the advantages of such a coding strategy over an amplitude-encoding scheme of constant signals remain unclear. Here we study the dynamics of a simple model gene promoter in response to oscillating and constant transcription factor signals. We find that in biologically relevant parameter regimes an oscillating input can produce a more constant protein level than a constant input. Our results suggest that oscillating signals may be used to minimize noise in gene regulation.
authors.affiliation: FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098XE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Filipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tostevin
authors.forename: Wiet
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: de Ronde
authors.forename: Pieter Rein
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: ten Wolde
mesh_terms: D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors