TY - JOUR
T1 - Propagating gene expression fronts in a one-dimensional coupled system of artificial cells
AU - Tayar, Alexandra
AU - Karzbrun, Eyal
AU - Noireaux, Vincent
AU - Bar-Ziv, Roy
N1 - We thank S. S. Daube for helpful discussions. V.N. thanks J. Garamella, R. Marshall and M. Rustad for technical help. This work was supported by: the Israel Science Foundation, the Minerva Foundation, and the Volkswagen Foundation (R.H.B.-Z.); the US–Israel Binational Science Foundation (R.H.B.-Z. and V.N.). Contributions All authors contributed to all aspects of this work.
PY - 2015/12
Y1 - 2015/12
N2 - Living systems employ front propagation and spatiotemporal patterns encoded in biochemical reactions for communication, self-organization and computation1,2,3,4. Emulating such dynamics in minimal systems is important for understanding physical principles in living cells5,6,7,8 and in vitro9,10,11,12,13,14. Here, we report a one-dimensional array of DNA compartments in a silicon chip as a coupled system of artificial cells, offering the means to implement reaction–diffusion dynamics by integrated genetic circuits and chip geometry. Using a bistable circuit we programmed a front of protein synthesis propagating in the array as a cascade of signal amplification and short-range diffusion. The front velocity is maximal at a saddle-node bifurcation from a bistable regime with travelling fronts to a monostable regime that is spatially homogeneous. Near the bifurcation the system exhibits large variability between compartments, providing a possible mechanism for population diversity. This demonstrates that on-chip integrated gene circuits are dynamical systems driving spatiotemporal patterns, cellular variability and symmetry breaking.
AB - Living systems employ front propagation and spatiotemporal patterns encoded in biochemical reactions for communication, self-organization and computation1,2,3,4. Emulating such dynamics in minimal systems is important for understanding physical principles in living cells5,6,7,8 and in vitro9,10,11,12,13,14. Here, we report a one-dimensional array of DNA compartments in a silicon chip as a coupled system of artificial cells, offering the means to implement reaction–diffusion dynamics by integrated genetic circuits and chip geometry. Using a bistable circuit we programmed a front of protein synthesis propagating in the array as a cascade of signal amplification and short-range diffusion. The front velocity is maximal at a saddle-node bifurcation from a bistable regime with travelling fronts to a monostable regime that is spatially homogeneous. Near the bifurcation the system exhibits large variability between compartments, providing a possible mechanism for population diversity. This demonstrates that on-chip integrated gene circuits are dynamical systems driving spatiotemporal patterns, cellular variability and symmetry breaking.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84949316029&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nphys3469
DO - 10.1038/nphys3469
M3 - مقالة
SN - 1745-2473
VL - 11
SP - 1037
EP - 1041
JO - Nature Physics
JF - Nature Physics
IS - 12
ER -