A new study explores the role of noise in shaping cell decisions
In a new study published this week in the journal Cell Systems, University of Melbourne researchers use mathematical modelling to understand the decisive role of noise in shaping cell differentiation.
The research reveals the presence of molecular and environmental ‘noise’ can have profound impacts, even changing the number of distinct cell types that exist in an organism. In the context of the cellular landscape, noise can fill up some ‘valleys’, or move them and the separating ‘mountain ridges.’
Professor Michael Stumpf, School of BioSciences and School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, said the study is important in disentangling some of the problems that have arisen in the context of understanding the role of noise in cell differentiation.
“The research focuses on the effects of molecular and environmental noise on cellular differentiation and can show mathematically, that qualitative features of the epigenetic landscapes can change, sometimes subtly, sometimes profoundly, upon the introduction of stochasticity - in other words randomness - into the system dynamics,” said Professor Stumpf.
The cellular interior is noisy; molecules like DNA, RNA and proteins collide and interact in an often unpredictable fashion. Despite this randomness, biological behaviour can be highly predictable with cells dividing and differentiating in a reproducible manner.
During the development of multi-cellular organisms, such as humans, the right cell types arrive in their right numbers, at the right time, in the right place. The mechanisms that govern this process are nowhere near fully understood.
The research builds on previous discussion around cellular development, including the ‘epigenetic landscape,’ originally conceived by the Scottish biologist Conrad Hal Waddington in the 1960s. Here, cells are seen as marbles traversing down a landscape of valleys and hills with the valleys corresponding to distinct cell types; the lower a marble rolls downhill, the more distinct the cell becomes. Where valleys divide, the cell has the choice of attaining different fates.
“In attempting to connect this theory to new data, scientists have encountered stumbling blocks. By building on the previous research in the field, the present study opens up new implications on the potential of noise on the landscape and the associated complexities and limitations in understanding this biological process,” said Professor Stumpf.
The research was co-authored by Megan A. Coomer, Lucy Ham, and Michael Stumpf.