Robustness in simple biochemical networks

ABSTRACT Cells use complex networks of interacting molecular components to transfer and process information. These “computational devices of living cells”1 are responsible for many important

cellular processes, including cell-cycle regulation and signal transduction. Here we address the issue of the sensitivity of the networks to variations in their biochemical parameters. We

propose a mechanism for robust adaptation in simple signal transduction networks. We show that this mechanism applies in particular to bacterial chemotaxis2,3,4,5,6,7. This is demonstrated

within a quantitative model which explains, in a unified way, many aspects of chemotaxis, including proper responses to chemical gradients8,9,10,11,12. The adaptation property10,13,14,15,16

is a consequence of the network's connectivity and does not require the ‘fine-tuning’ of parameters. We argue that the key properties of biochemical networks should be robust in order

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our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS UNIVERSAL STRUCTURES FOR ADAPTATION IN BIOCHEMICAL REACTION NETWORKS Article Open access 20 April 2023 CONTROLLING

NOISE WITH SELF-ORGANIZED RESETTING Article Open access 12 February 2025 CONTROLLING COMPLEX NETWORKS WITH COMPLEX NODES Article 24 March 2023 REFERENCES * Bray, D. Protein molecules as

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Natl Acad. Sci. USA_ 76, 6309–6313 (1979). Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank J. Stock, M. Surette, A. C. Maggs, U. Alon, L. Hartwell, M. Kirschner, A.Levine, A.

Libchaber, A. Murray and T. Surrey for discussion; A. C. Maggs for help with numerical issues; and J. Stock, M. Surette and H. Berg for introducing us to bacterial chemotaxis and pointing

out many useful references. This work has been partially supported by grants from the NIH and the NSF. N.B. is a Rothschild Fellow and a Dicke Fellow at Princeton University. AUTHOR

INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Departments of Physics and Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA N. Barkai & S. Leibler Authors * N. Barkai

View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * S. Leibler View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to S. Leibler. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Barkai, N., Leibler, S. Robustness in simple

biochemical networks. _Nature_ 387, 913–917 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/43199 Download citation * Received: 31 December 1996 * Accepted: 17 April 1997 * Issue Date: 26 June 1997 * DOI:

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