Modeling the bicold gradient: Diffusion and reversible nuclear trapping of a stable protein

被引:65
作者
Coppey, Mathieu [1 ]
Berezhkovskii, Alexander M. [2 ]
Kim, Yoosik [1 ]
Boettiger, Alistair N. [3 ]
Shvartsman, Stanislav Y. [1 ]
机构
[1] Princeton Univ, Lewis Sigler Inst Integrat Genom, Dept Chem & Chem Engn, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA
[2] NIH, Ctr Informat Technol, Div Computat Biosci, Math & Stat Computat Lab, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
[3] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Cell Biol & Mol, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
关键词
morphogen; pattern formation; dynamics; modelling; syncytium; bicoid; Drosophila; analysis;
D O I
10.1016/j.ydbio.2007.09.058
中图分类号
Q [生物科学];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
The Bicoid gradient in the Drosophila embryo provided the first example of a morphogen gradient studied at the molecular level. The exponential shape of the Bicoid gradient had always been interpreted within the framework of the localized production, diffusion, and degradation model. We propose an alternative mechanism, which assumes no Bicoid degradation. The medium where the Bicoid gradient is formed and interpreted is very dynamic. Most notably, the number of nuclei changes over three orders of magnitude from fertilization, when Bicoid synthesis is initiated, to nuclear cycle 14 when most of the measurements were taken. We demonstrate that a model based on Bicoid diffusion and nucleocytoplasmic shuttling in the presence of the growing number of nuclei can account for most of the properties of the Bicoid concentration profile. Consistent with experimental observations, the Bicoid gradient in our model is established before nuclei migrate to the periphery of the embryo and remains stable during subsequent nuclear divisions. Published by Elsevier Inc.
引用
收藏
页码:623 / 630
页数:8
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