Colored Noise Induced Bistable Switch in the Genetic Toggle Switch Systems

Gene Differential Co-Expression Networks Based on RNA-Seq: Construction and Its Applications

Gene co-expression network (GCN) becomes an increasingly important tool in omics data analysis. A great challenge for GCN construction is that the sample size is far lower than the number of genes. Traditional methods rely on considerable samples. Moreover, association signals are likely weak, nonlinear and stochastic, which are difficult to be identified among thousands of candidates. In this paper, the gray correlation coefficient (GCC) is introduced, and a novel method to construct gene differential co-expression networks (GDCNs) is proposed. Based on the GDCNs, three measures are proposed to explore informative genes. The proposed method can make full use of the information provided by a handful of samples and overcome the shortages of GCNs, which can evaluate the changes of co-expression relationships that are possibly triggered by treatments. Based on RNA-seq data of Brassica napus, GDCNs under multiple experimental conditions are constructed and investigated. It is found that the GCC-based method is very robust to data processing. The GDCNs facilitate the inference of gene functions and the identification of informative genes that are responsible for stress responsiveness. The GDCN-based approaches integrate the 'guilt by association' and the 'guilt by rewiring' rules, which provide alternative tools for omics data analysis.

A stochastic model of homeostasis: The roles of noise and nuclear positioning in deciding cell fate

We study a population-based cellular model that starts from a single stem cell that divides stochastically to give rise to either daughter stem cells or differentiated daughter cells. There are three main components in the model: nucleus position, the underlying gene-regulatory network, and stochastic segregation of transcription factors in the daughter cells. The proportion of self-renewal and differentiated cell lines as a function of the nucleus position which in turn decides the plane of cleavage is studied. Both nuclear position and noise play an important role in determining the stem cell genealogies. We have observed both long and short genealogies in model simulation, and these compare well with experimental results from neuroblast and B-cell division. Symmetric divisions are observed in apical nuclei, while asymmetric division occurs when the nucleus is toward the base. In this model, the number of clones decreases over time, although the average clone size increases.

Molecular-memory-driven phenotypic switching in a genetic toggle switch without cooperative binding

A genetic toggle switch would involve multistep reaction processes (e.g., complex promoter activation), creating memories between individual reaction events. Revealing the effect of this molecular memory is important for understanding intracellular processes such as cellular decision making. We propose a generalized genetic toggle switch model and use a generalized chemical master equation theory to account for the memory effect. Interestingly, we find that molecular memory can induce bimodality in this memory system although the corresponding memoryless counterpart is not bimodal. This finding implies a plausible alternative mechanism for phenotypic switching that is driven by molecular memory rather than by ultrasensitivity or cooperative binding as shown in previous studies. We also find that unbalanced memories arising from the processes by which mutually inhibiting transcription factors are produced can give rise to asymmetric bimodality without changing the positions of two peaks in the bimodal protein distribution. Given the prevalence of molecular memory in gene regulation, our findings would provide insights into cell fate decisions in growth and development.

Graphical Features of Functional Genes in Human Protein Interaction Network

With the completion of the human genome project, it is feasible to investigate large-scale human protein interaction network (HPIN) with complex networks theory. Proteins are encoded by genes. Essential, viable, disease, conserved, housekeeping (HK) and tissue-enriched (TE) genes are functional genes, which are organized and functioned via interaction networks. Based on up-to-date data from various databases or literature, two large-scale HPINs and six subnetworks are constructed. We illustrate that the HPINs and most of the subnetworks are sparse, small-world, scale-free, disassortative and with hierarchical modularity. Among the six subnetworks, essential, disease and HK subnetworks are more densely connected than the others. Statistical analysis on the topological structures of the HPIN reveals that the lethal, the conserved, the HK and the TE genes are with hallmark graphical features. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves indicate that the essential genes can be distinguished from the viable ones with accuracy as high as almost 70%. Closeness, semi-local and eigenvector centralities can distinguish the HK genes from the TE ones with accuracy around 82%. Furthermore, the Venn diagram, cluster dendgrams and classifications of disease genes reveal that some classes of disease genes are with hallmark graphical features, especially for cancer genes, HK disease genes and TE disease genes. The findings facilitate the identification of some functional genes via topological structures. The investigations shed some light on the characteristics of the compete interactome, which have potential implications in networked medicine and biological network control.