Tostevin Filipe, Wigbers Manon, Søgaard-Andersen Lotte, Gerland Ulrich
Physics of Complex Biosystems, Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Jan 19;17(1):e1008587. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008587. eCollection 2021 Jan.
The mechanisms and design principles of regulatory systems establishing stable polarized protein patterns within cells are well studied. However, cells can also dynamically control their cell polarity. Here, we ask how an upstream signaling system can switch the orientation of a polarized pattern. We use a mathematical model of a core polarity system based on three proteins as the basis to study different mechanisms of signal-induced polarity switching. The analysis of this model reveals four general classes of switching mechanisms with qualitatively distinct behaviors: the transient oscillator switch, the reset switch, the prime-release switch, and the push switch. Each of these regulatory mechanisms effectively implements the function of a spatial toggle switch, however with different characteristics in their nonlinear and stochastic dynamics. We identify these characteristics and also discuss experimental signatures of each type of switching mechanism.
建立细胞内稳定极化蛋白模式的调控系统的机制和设计原则已得到充分研究。然而，细胞也可以动态控制其细胞极性。在这里，我们探讨上游信号系统如何切换极化模式的方向。我们使用基于三种蛋白质的核心极性系统的数学模型作为基础，来研究信号诱导极性切换的不同机制。对该模型的分析揭示了具有定性不同行为的四类一般切换机制：瞬态振荡器开关、重置开关、引发-释放开关和推动开关。这些调控机制中的每一种都有效地实现了空间拨动开关的功能，然而在其非线性和随机动力学方面具有不同的特征。我们确定了这些特征，并讨论了每种切换机制的实验特征。
