Noise and robustness in Boolean signaling networks

Living systems are capable of processing information from several inputs under strongly noisy conditions. Even when one input is externally controlled, the others provide a background noise, or chatter, that may affect the response of the system. Here we study the effect of such background noise in the signaling network of a typical human cell involving 139 proteins[1]. Specifically, we consider a Boolean model of the network with one externally controlled input (oxidative stress), 8 fluctuating inputs and 6 outputs (the proteins Akt, Erk, Rac, Cdc42, SAPK and p38). We observe that noise intensity determines the information paths. We have compared the results obtained with the biological network to results obtained from randomized networks. Besides, we have found that the biological network exhibits a unique balance between robustness and responsiveness.

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