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A tunable biochemical band-pass filter robust to internal noise
by
Marc R. Roussel
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lethbridge
Some biochemical systems respond differently to the same signal presented at different frequencies, implying a signal filtering capability. Calcium signals, for instance, can be interpreted differently in a cell depending on their temporal characteristics. The ingredients for a minimal, tunable band-pass filter turn out to be remarkably simple: A competitively inhibited enzyme operating in the slow, tight-binding inhibition regime is able to accomplish this function. The central frequency of the filter can be tuned by varying the concentration of inhibitor. Since biochemical components are frequently present in very small numbers, we examine the effect of decreasing the volume of the system holding the concentrations constant, which corresponds to increasing the level of internal noise. Remarkably, the band-pass filtering property is retained, even at very small extensivities corresponding to a few dozen enzyme molecules.
Date received: May 9, 2008
Copyright © 2008 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cawd-64.