title: A frequency-dependent decoding mechanism for axonal length sensing.
abstract: We have recently developed a mathematical model of axonal length sensing in which a system of delay differential equations describe a chemical signaling network. We showed that chemical oscillations emerge due to delayed negative feedback via a Hopf bifurcation, resulting in a frequency that is a monotonically decreasing function of axonal length. In this paper, we explore how frequency-encoding of axonal length can be decoded by a frequency-modulated gene network. If the protein output were thresholded, then this could provide a mechanism for axonal length control. We analyze the robustness of such a mechanism in the presence of intrinsic noise due to finite copy numbers within the gene network.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Bressloff
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Bhargav R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Karamched
keywords: axonal length control; biochemical oscillations; frequency decoding; gene network; intrinsic noise; protein thresholds