Genetic Redundancies Enhance Information Transfer in Noisy Regulatory Circuits

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005156
• Publication Date: 2016-10-14T17:43:58Z
• Authors: Guillermo Rodrigo; Juan F. Poyatos
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Proteome; QH301-705.5; Molecular Networks (q-bio.MN); Information Storage and Retrieval; Expression; Signal-To-Noise Ratio; 03 medical and health sciences; Transcriptional regulation; Biochemical signaling networks; Transmission; Animals; Humans; Quantitative Biology - Molecular Networks; Computer Simulation; Biology (General); Variability; Robustness; Feedback, Physiological; 0303 health sciences; Models, Genetic; Adaptation, Physiological; Gene Expression Regulation; FOS: Biological sciences; Cell; Heterogeneity; Stochastic resonance; Decision-making; Research Article; Signal Transduction

AbstractCellular decision making is based on regulatory circuits that associate signal thresholds to specific physiological actions. This transmission of information is subjected to molecular noise what can decrease its fidelity. Here, we show instead how such intrinsic noise enhances information transfer in the presence of multiple circuit copies. The result is due to the contribution of noise to the generation of autonomous responses by each copy, which are altogether associated with a common decision. Moreover, factors that correlate the responses of the redundant units (extrinsic noise or regulatory cross-talk) contribute to reduce fidelity, while those that further uncouple them (heterogeneity within the copies) can lead to stronger information gain. Overall, our study emphasizes how the interplay of signal thresholding, redundancy, and noise influences the accuracy of cellular decision making. Understanding this interplay provides a basis to explain collective cell signaling mechanisms, and to engineer robust decisions with noisy genetic circuits.