Gene expression dynamics in the macrophage exhibit criticality

@article{citeulike:2384447, abstract = {Cells are dynamical systems of biomolecular interactions that process information from their environment to mount diverse yet specific responses. A key property of many self-organized systems is that of criticality: a state of a system in which, on average, perturbations are neither dampened nor amplified, but are propagated over long temporal or spatial scales. Criticality enables the coordination of complex macroscopic behaviors that strike an optimal balance between stability and adaptability. It has long been hypothesized that biological systems are critical. Here, we address this hypothesis experimentally for system-wide gene expression dynamics in the macrophage. To this end, we have developed a method, based on algorithmic information theory, to assess macrophage criticality, and we have validated the method on networks with known properties. Using global gene expression data from macrophages stimulated with a variety of Toll-like receptor agonists, we found that macrophage dynamics are indeed critical, providing the most compelling evidence to date for this general principle of dynamics in biological systems. 10.1073/pnas.0711525105}, author = {Nykter, Matti and Price, Nathan D. and Aldana, Maximino and Ramsey, Stephen A. and Kauffman, Stuart A. and Hood, Leroy E. and Yli-Harja, Olli and Shmulevich, Ilya }, citeulike-article-id = {2384447}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0711525105}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, keywords = {adaptability, criticality, gene-expression, robustness}, month = {February}, number = {6}, pages = {1897--1900}, posted-at = {2008-02-15 09:35:50}, priority = {3}, title = {Gene expression dynamics in the macrophage exhibit criticality}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0711525105}, volume = {105}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2384447 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2384447 N2 - Cells are dynamical systems of biomolecular interactions that process information from their environment to mount diverse yet specific responses. A key property of many self-organized systems is that of criticality: a state of a system in which, on average, perturbations are neither dampened nor amplified, but are propagated over long temporal or spatial scales. Criticality enables the coordination of complex macroscopic behaviors that strike an optimal balance between stability and adaptability. It has long been hypothesized that biological systems are critical. Here, we address this hypothesis experimentally for system-wide gene expression dynamics in the macrophage. To this end, we have developed a method, based on algorithmic information theory, to assess macrophage criticality, and we have validated the method on networks with known properties. Using global gene expression data from macrophages stimulated with a variety of Toll-like receptor agonists, we found that macrophage dynamics are indeed critical, providing the most compelling evidence to date for this general principle of dynamics in biological systems. 10.1073/pnas.0711525105 IS - 6 JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences EP - 1900 TI - Gene expression dynamics in the macrophage exhibit criticality VL - 105 SP - 1897 KW - adaptability KW - criticality KW - gene-expression KW - robustness AU - Nykter, Matti AU - Price, Nathan AU - Aldana, Maximino AU - Ramsey, Stephen AU - Kauffman, Stuart AU - Hood, Leroy AU - Yli-Harja, Olli AU - Shmulevich, Ilya PY - 2008/02/12/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0711525105 ER -