The stochastic behavior of a molecular switching circuit with feedback

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  • 21 June 2005
Abstract
We study the stochastic switching behavior of a model circuit based on multisite phosphorylation in a population of target proteins that feed back on their phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Although the enzymes operate in a linear regime, the sequencing of several modification steps generates the nonlinearity needed for bistability under feedback. Depending on the symmetries and details of the catalytic process, bistability occurs as either a first-order or second-order non-equilibrium phase transition. We compute the phase diagram, fluctuation spectrum and large-deviation properties within an analytical framework for the full stochastic process. The stochastic treatment of a switch quantifies the dependency of bistability and memory on the number of target proteins, as well as the externally supplied kinase and phosphatase.

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