Session L40: Focus Session: Noisy Dynamics as Survival Strategies and Nanopores
2:30 PM–5:18 PM, Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Room: A122/123
Sponsoring Unit:
DBP
Chair: Gabor Balazsi and Gurol Suel, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Abstract ID: BAPS.2011.MAR.L40.5
Abstract: L40.00005 : Population-level control of gene expression
4:06 PM–4:18 PM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Dmitry Nevozhay
(Department of Systems Biology, UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center)
Rhys Adams
(Department of Systems Biology, UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center)
Elizabeth Van Itallie
(Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Rice University)
Matthew Bennett
(Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Rice University)
Gabor Balazsi
(Department of Systems Biology, UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center)
Gene expression is the process that translates genetic information into proteins, that determine the way cells live, function and even die. It was demonstrated that cells with identical genomes exposed to the same environment can differ in their protein composition and therefore phenotypes. Protein levels can vary between cells due to the stochastic nature of intracellular biochemical events, indicating that the genotype-phenotype connection is not deterministic at the cellular level. We asked whether genomes could encode isogenic cell populations more reliably than single cells. To address this question, we built two gene circuits to control three cell population-level characteristics: gene expression mean, coefficient of variation and non-genetic memory of previous expression states. Indeed, we found that these population-level characteristics were more predictable than the gene expression of single cells in a well-controlled environment.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.MAR.L40.5