Action at a distance in transcriptional regulation

William Bialek (1, 2) , Thomas Gregor (3, 2) , Gašper Tkačik (4)

1 CUNY - City University of New York [New York]
2 DPPU - Department of Physics, Princeton University
3 Physique des fonctions biologiques / Physics of Biological Functions
4 IST Austria - Institute of Science and Technology [Klosterneuburg, Austria]

There is increasing evidence that protein binding to specific sites along DNA can activate the reading out of genetic information without coming into direct physical contact with the gene. There also is evidence that these distant but interacting sites are embedded in a liquid droplet of proteins which condenses out of the surrounding solution. We argue that droplet-mediated interactions can account for crucial features of gene regulation only if the droplet is poised at a non-generic point in its phase diagram. We explore a minimal model that embodies this idea, show that this model has a natural mechanism for self-tuning, and suggest direct experimental tests.

Domaines: Biophysique [physics.bio-ph]; Bio-Informatique, Biologie Systémique [q-bio.QM]

William Bialek, Thomas Gregor, Gašper Tkačik. Action at a distance in transcriptional regulation. 2019. ⟨pasteur-03216303⟩