Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33139718›Full record

ArticleNature communications2020

Interpretation of morphogen gradients by a synthetic bistable circuit.

Paul K Grant, Gregory Szep, Om Patange, Jacob Halatek, Valerie Coppard, Attila Csikász-Nagy, Jim Haseloff, James C W Locke, Neil Dalchau, Andrew Phillips

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Paul K GrantMicrosoft Research, 21 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB, UK. grant.paul@microsoft.com.ORCID 0000-0002-1099-0461
Gregory SzepMicrosoft Research, 21 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7680-8178
Om PatangeSainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1LR, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2810-6216
Jacob HalatekMicrosoft Research, 21 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3211-2253
Valerie CoppardMicrosoft Research, 21 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB, UK.
Attila Csikász-NagyRandall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics, King's College London, London, WC2R 2LS, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2919-5601
Jim HaseloffDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4793-8058
James C W LockeMicrosoft Research, 21 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB, UK.
Neil DalchauMicrosoft Research, 21 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4872-6914
Andrew PhillipsMicrosoft Research, 21 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2FB, UK. andrew.phillips@microsoft.com.ORCID 0000-0001-9725-1073
Microsoft Research (United Kingdom) · GBKing's College London · GBUniversity of Cambridge · GBHarvard University · US

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/L014130/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

During development, cells gain positional information through the interpretation of dynamic morphogen gradients. A proposed mechanism for interpreting opposing morphogen gradients is mutual inhibition of downstream transcription factors, but isolating the role of this specific motif within a natural network remains a challenge. Here, we engineer a synthetic morphogen-induced mutual inhibition circuit in E. coli populations and show that mutual inhibition alone is sufficient to produce stable domains of gene expression in response to dynamic morphogen gradients, provided the spatial average of the morphogens falls within the region of bistability at the single cell level. When we add sender devices, the resulting patterning circuit produces theoretically predicted self-organised gene expression domains in response to a single gradient. We develop computational models of our synthetic circuits parameterised to timecourse fluorescence data, providing both a theoretical and experimental framework for engineering morphogen-induced spatial patterning in cell populations.

Indexed as

Computer SimulationEscherichia coliGene Expression Regulation, BacterialGene Regulatory NetworksModels, BiologicalSynthetic BiologyTranscription FactorsTranscription Factors

Identifiers

PMID33139718
PMCPMC7608687
OpenAlexW3095378376

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.