Trade-off between Responsiveness and Noise Suppression in Biomolecular System Responses to Environmental Cues
2011

Balancing Responsiveness and Noise in Biomolecular Networks

Sample size: 3000 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Alexander V. Ratushny, Ilya Shmulevich, John D. Aitchison

Primary Institution: Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Hypothesis

How do biomolecular networks balance responsiveness and noise suppression in response to environmental cues?

Conclusion

The study reveals distinct trade-offs in responsiveness and noise suppression among different biomolecular networks.

Supporting Evidence

  • The study developed a time-frequency analysis framework to systematically explore network behaviors.
  • Distinct network behaviors were observed in yeast and mammalian systems.
  • The OLE network was found to effectively filter high-frequency fluctuations.
  • The GAL network was highly responsive but less effective at noise suppression.
  • The LPS network exhibited a balance between noise suppression and responsiveness.

Takeaway

Cells need to respond to important changes in their environment while ignoring unimportant noise, and this study looks at how different networks do that.

Methodology

The study used a generalized time-frequency analysis framework to explore the dynamical properties of biomolecular networks.

Limitations

The study relies on mathematical models and may not capture all biological complexities.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002091

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