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Mean-field vs. stochastic models for transcriptional regulation

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 نشر من قبل Claudiu Giuraniuc
 تاريخ النشر 2008
  مجال البحث علم الأحياء
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We introduce a minimal model description for the dynamics of transcriptional regulatory networks. It is studied within a mean-field approximation, i.e., by deterministic odes representing the reaction kinetics, and by stochastic simulations employing the Gillespie algorithm. We elucidate the different results both approaches can deliver, depending on the network under study, and in particular depending on the level of detail retained in the respective description. Two examples are addressed in detail: the repressilator, a transcriptional clock based on a three-gene network realized experimentally in E. coli, and a bistable two-gene circuit under external driving, a transcriptional network motif recently proposed to play a role in cellular development.


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