title: Reliable binary cell-fate decisions based on oscillations.
abstract: Biological systems have often to perform binary decisions under highly dynamic and noisy environments, such as during cell-fate determination. These decisions can be implemented by two main bifurcation mechanisms based on the transitions from either monostability or oscillation to bistability. We compare these two mechanisms by using stochastic models with time-varying fields and by establishing asymptotic formulas for the choice probabilities. Different scaling laws for decision sensitivity with respect to noise strength and signal timescale are obtained, supporting a role for oscillatory dynamics in performing noise-robust and temporally tunable binary decision-making. This result provides a rationale for recent experimental evidences showing that oscillatory expression of proteins often precedes binary cell-fate decisions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes, et Molécules, CNRS, UMR 8523, Université Lille 1, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pfeuty
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaneko
mesh_terms: D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical