Chemical sensing by nonequilibrium cooperative receptors.

ABSTRACT: Cooperativity arising from local interactions in equilibrium receptor systems provides gain, but does not increase sensory performance, as measured by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to a fundamental tradeoff between gain and intrinsic noise. Here we allow sensing to be a nonequilibrium process and show that energy dissipation cannot circumvent the fundamental tradeoff, so that the SNR is still optimal for independent receptors. For systems requiring high gain, nonequilibrium 2D-coupled receptors maximize the SNR, revealing a new design principle for biological sensors.

SUBMITTER: Skoge M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4114058 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature