Stochastic models for regulatory networks of the genetic toggle switch.

ABSTRACT: Bistability arises within a wide range of biological systems from the lambda phage switch in bacteria to cellular signal transduction pathways in mammalian cells. Changes in regulatory mechanisms may result in genetic switching in a bistable system. Recently, more and more experimental evidence in the form of bimodal population distributions indicates that noise plays a very important role in the switching of bistable systems. Although deterministic models have been used for studying the existence of bistability properties under various system conditions, these models cannot realize cell-to-cell fluctuations in genetic switching. However, there is a lag in the development of stochastic models for studying the impact of noise in bistable systems because of the lack of detailed knowledge of

SUBMITTER: Tian T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1482501 | biostudies-literature | 2006 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature