Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation

Abstract Protein scaffolds bring together multiple components of a signalling pathway, thereby promoting signal propagation along a common physical ‘backbone’. Scaffolds play a prominent role in natural signalling pathways and provide a promising platform for synthetic circuits. To better understand...

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Main Authors: Stephen A Chapman, Anand R Asthagiri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2009-10-01
Series:Molecular Systems Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/msb.2009.73
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author Stephen A Chapman
Anand R Asthagiri
author_facet Stephen A Chapman
Anand R Asthagiri
author_sort Stephen A Chapman
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Protein scaffolds bring together multiple components of a signalling pathway, thereby promoting signal propagation along a common physical ‘backbone’. Scaffolds play a prominent role in natural signalling pathways and provide a promising platform for synthetic circuits. To better understand how scaffolding quantitatively affects signal transmission, we conducted an in vivo sensitivity analysis of the yeast mating pathway to a broad range of perturbations in the abundance of the scaffold Ste5. Our measurements show that signal throughput exhibits a biphasic dependence on scaffold concentration and that altering the amount of scaffold binding partners reshapes this biphasic dependence. Unexpectedly, the wild‐type level of Ste5 is ∼10‐fold below the optimum needed to maximize signal throughput. This sub‐optimal configuration may be a tradeoff as increasing Ste5 expression promotes baseline activation of the mating pathway. Furthermore, operating at a sub‐optimal level of Ste5 may provide regulatory flexibility as tuning Ste5 expression up or down directly modulates the downstream phenotypic response. Our quantitative analysis reveals performance tradeoffs in scaffold‐based modules and defines engineering challenges for implementing molecular scaffolds in synthetic pathways.
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spelling doaj-art-340f91c76c7f447b93b53250f4a31cea2025-08-20T02:18:32ZengSpringer NatureMolecular Systems Biology1744-42922009-10-01511610.1038/msb.2009.73Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagationStephen A Chapman0Anand R Asthagiri1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of TechnologyDivision of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of TechnologyAbstract Protein scaffolds bring together multiple components of a signalling pathway, thereby promoting signal propagation along a common physical ‘backbone’. Scaffolds play a prominent role in natural signalling pathways and provide a promising platform for synthetic circuits. To better understand how scaffolding quantitatively affects signal transmission, we conducted an in vivo sensitivity analysis of the yeast mating pathway to a broad range of perturbations in the abundance of the scaffold Ste5. Our measurements show that signal throughput exhibits a biphasic dependence on scaffold concentration and that altering the amount of scaffold binding partners reshapes this biphasic dependence. Unexpectedly, the wild‐type level of Ste5 is ∼10‐fold below the optimum needed to maximize signal throughput. This sub‐optimal configuration may be a tradeoff as increasing Ste5 expression promotes baseline activation of the mating pathway. Furthermore, operating at a sub‐optimal level of Ste5 may provide regulatory flexibility as tuning Ste5 expression up or down directly modulates the downstream phenotypic response. Our quantitative analysis reveals performance tradeoffs in scaffold‐based modules and defines engineering challenges for implementing molecular scaffolds in synthetic pathways.https://doi.org/10.1038/msb.2009.73MAP kinase signallingpheromoneSaccharomyces cerevisiaesignal throughputSte5 scaffold
spellingShingle Stephen A Chapman
Anand R Asthagiri
Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation
Molecular Systems Biology
MAP kinase signalling
pheromone
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
signal throughput
Ste5 scaffold
title Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation
title_full Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation
title_fullStr Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation
title_short Quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation
title_sort quantitative effect of scaffold abundance on signal propagation
topic MAP kinase signalling
pheromone
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
signal throughput
Ste5 scaffold
url https://doi.org/10.1038/msb.2009.73
work_keys_str_mv AT stephenachapman quantitativeeffectofscaffoldabundanceonsignalpropagation
AT anandrasthagiri quantitativeeffectofscaffoldabundanceonsignalpropagation