CORRELATED FLUCTUATIONS PROBE DYNAMICS OF TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION

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Description/Abstract

The dynamics of transcriptional control involves small numbers of molecules and result in significant fluctuations in protein and mRNA concentrations. The correlations between these intrinsic fluctuations then offer, via the fluctuation dissipation relation, the possibility of capturing the system’s response to external perturbations, and hence the nature of the regulatory activity itself. We study time-dependent noise correlations in simple networks of activators and repressors, varying the topology of causal influence, and using different mechanisms or parameter choices. The distinct correlated fluctuations could be used as signatures for mechanism identification. To that end, we present analytical and numerical results on peaks and delays in correlations between proteins within networks, and the dependence of these features on parameter and mechanism.