Use of physiological constraints to identify quantitative design principles for gene expression in yeast adaptation to heat shoc

Background: Understanding the relationship between gene expression changes, enzyme activity shifts, and the corresponding physiological adaptive response of organisms to environmental cues is crucial in explaining how cells cope with stress. For example, adaptation of yeast to heat shock involves a characteristic profile of changes to the expression levels of genes coding for enzymes of the glycolytic pathway and some of its branches. The experimental determination of changes in gene expression profiles provides a descriptive picture of the adaptive response to stress. However, it does not explain why a particular profile is selected for any given response. Results: We used mathematical models and analysis of in silico gene expression profiles (GEPs) to understand how changes in gene expression correlate to an efficient response of yeast cells to heat shock. An exhaustive set of GEPs, matched with the corresponding set of enzyme activities, was simulated and analyzed. The effectivenes...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Ester Vilaprinyó, Rui Alves, Albert Sorribas
• Keywords: BMCBI 2006, Gene Expression, Gene Expression Changes, Shock