Queueing up for enzymatic processing: correlated signaling through coupled degradation.

ABSTRACT: High-throughput technologies have led to the generation of complex wiring diagrams as a post-sequencing paradigm for depicting the interactions between vast and diverse cellular species. While these diagrams are useful for analyzing biological systems on a large scale, a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the observed network connections is critical for the further development of systems and synthetic biology. Here, we use queueing theory to investigate how 'waiting lines' can lead to correlations between protein 'customers' that are coupled solely through a downstream set of enzymatic 'servers'. Using the E. coli ClpXP degradation machine as a model processing system, we observe significant cross-talk between two networks that are indirectly coupled through a

SUBMITTER: Cookson NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3737734 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature