title: Temperature-induced variation in gene expression burst size in metazoan cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gene expression is an inherently stochastic process, owing to its dynamic molecular nature. Protein amount distributions, which can be acquired by cytometry using a reporter gene, can inform about the mechanisms of the underlying microscopic molecular system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  By using different clones of chicken erythroid progenitor cells harboring different integration sites of a CMV-driven mCherry protein, we investigated the dynamical behavior of such distributions. We show that, on short term, clone distributions can be quickly regenerated from small population samples with a high accuracy. On longer term, on the contrary, we show variations manifested by correlated fluctuation in the Mean Fluorescence Intensity. In search for a possible cause of this correlation, we demonstrate that in response to small temperature variations cells are able to adjust their gene expression rate: a modest (2 °C) increase in external temperature induces a significant down regulation of mean expression values, with a reverse effect observed when the temperature is decreased. Using a two-state model of gene expression we further demonstrate that temperature acts by modifying the size of transcription bursts, while the burst frequency of the investigated promoter is less systematically affected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For the first time, we report that transcription burst size is a key parameter for gene expression that metazoan cells from homeotherm animals can modify in response to an external thermal stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Génétique et de Physiologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (CGPhiMC), CNRS UMR5534, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, 69622, Lyon, France. arnaudophe@yahoo.fr.|Division of Genomic Technologies, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Yokohama, Japan. arnaudophe@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Ophélie
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arnaud
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'InfoRmatique en Image et Systèmes d'information (LIRIS), CNRS UMR5205, INSA-Lyon, INRIA, Université de Lyon, 69621, Lyon, France. sam.meyer@insa-lyon.fr.|INSA-Lyon, CNRS UMR5240 Microbiologie, Adaptation et Pathogénie, Université de Lyon, 69622, Lyon, France. sam.meyer@insa-lyon.fr.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Centre de Génétique et de Physiologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (CGPhiMC), CNRS UMR5534, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, 69622, Lyon, France. elodie.vallin@univ-lyon1.fr.|Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, Université de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69007, Lyon, France. elodie.vallin@univ-lyon1.fr.
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vallin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'InfoRmatique en Image et Systèmes d'information (LIRIS), CNRS UMR5205, INSA-Lyon, INRIA, Université de Lyon, 69621, Lyon, France. guillaume.beslon@inria.fr.|Inria Team Beagle, Inria Center Grenoble Rhône-Alpes, Montbonnot-Saint-Martin, France. guillaume.beslon@inria.fr.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beslon
authors.affiliation: Centre de Génétique et de Physiologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (CGPhiMC), CNRS UMR5534, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, 69622, Lyon, France. Olivier.Gandrillon@univ-lyon1.fr.|Inria Team Dracula, Inria Center Grenoble Rhône-Alpes, Montbonnot-Saint-Martin, France. Olivier.Gandrillon@univ-lyon1.fr.|Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, Université de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69007, Lyon, France. Olivier.Gandrillon@univ-lyon1.fr.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gandrillon
mesh_terms: D001355:Alpharetrovirus / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002645:Chickens; D004900:Erythroblasts / Q000378:metabolism*; D015672:Erythroid Precursor Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005453:Fluorescence; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017930:Genes, Reporter / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D013696:Temperature; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger