par Goldbeter, Albert 
;Dupont, Geneviève
Référence Biophysical chemistry, 37, 1-3, page (341-353)
Publication Publié, 1990
;Dupont, Geneviève Référence Biophysical chemistry, 37, 1-3, page (341-353)
Publication Publié, 1990
Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | Allosteric regulation is associated with a number of periodic phenomena in biochemical systems. The cooperative nature of such regulatory interactions provides a source of nonlinearity that favors oscillatory behavior. We assess the role of cooperativity in the onset of biochemical oscillations by analyzing two specific examples. First, we consider a model for product-activated allosteric enzyme which has previously been proposed to account for glycolytic oscillations. While enzyme cooperatively plays an important role in the occurrence of oscillations, we show that these may nevertheless occur in the absence of cooperativity when the reaction product is removed in a Michaelian rather than linear manner. The second model considered was recently proposed to account for signal-induced oscillations of intracellular calcium. This phenomenon originates from a nonlinear process of calcium-induced calcium release. Here also, the cooperative nature of that positive feedback favors the occurrence of oscillations but is not absolutely required for periodic behavior. Besides underlining the importance of cooperativity, the results highlight the role of diffuse nonlinearities distributed over several steps within a regulated system: even in the absence of cooperativity, such mild nonlinearities (e.g., of the Michaelian type) may combine to raise the overall degree of nonlinearity up to the level required for oscillations. |
