2009/11/26 by Timothy E Saunders, Timothy Saunders, Martin Howard · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Cellular Mechanics and Interactions #Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation #Planarian Biology and Electrostimulation #q-bio.CB #q-bio.MN
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1478-3975/6/4/046020
published as Physical Biology, 6, 046020 (2009) · 18 pages, 3 figures
openalex publication_date 2009/11/26 · arxiv created 2009/11/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/08 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
During development, morphogen gradients precisely determine the position of gene expression boundaries despite the inevitable presence of fluctuations. Recent experiments suggest that some morphogen gradients may be interpreted prior to reaching steady-state. Theoretical work has predicted that such systems will be more robust to embryo-to-embryo fluctuations. By analyzing two experimentally motivated models of morphogen gradient formation, we investigate the positional precision of gene expression boundaries determined by pre-steady-state morphogen gradients in the presence of embryo-to-embryo fluctuations, internal biochemical noise and variations in the timing of morphogen measurement. Morphogens that are direct transcription factors are found to be particularly sensitive to internal noise when interpreted prior to steady-state, disadvantaging early measurement, even in the presence of large embryo-to-embryo fluctuations. Morphogens interpreted by cell-surface receptors can be measured prior to steady-state without significant decrease in positional precision provided fluctuations in the timing of measurement are small. Applying our results to experiment, we predict that Bicoid, a transcription factor morphogen in Drosophila, is unlikely to be interpreted prior to reaching steady-state. We also predict that Activin in Xenopus and Nodal in zebrafish, morphogens interpreted by cell-surface receptors, can be decoded in pre-steady-state.