Stochastic stabilization of phenotypic States: the genetic bistable switch as a case study.

ABSTRACT: We study by means of analytical calculation and stochastic simulations how intrinsic noise modifies the bifurcation diagram of gene regulatory processes that can be effectively described by the Langevin formalism. In a general context, our study raises the intriguing question of how biochemical fluctuations redesign the epigenetic landscape in differentiation processes. We have applied our findings to a general class of regulatory processes that includes the simplest case that displays a bistable behavior and hence phenotypic variability: the genetic auto-activating switch. Thus, we explain why and how the noise promotes the stability of the low-state phenotype of the switch and show that the bistable region is extended when increasing the intensity of the fluctuations. This phenomenology

SUBMITTER: Weber M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3770683 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature