Models of genetic control by repression with time delays and spatial effects (Q1065743)

For cellular control by repression two models are considered by means of standard theory from compartmental analysis and biochemical kinetics. They include time delays to account for the processes of transcription and translation and diffusion to account for spatial effects in the cell. The first model considers repression of the gene by an endproduct produced at a distance from the gene. The diffusion equations then involve delays and are formulated by a system of difference-differential equations for the concentrations of mRNA and repressors in three interacting compartments with appropriate boundary conditions. The second model accounts for translation occurring uniformly throughout the cytoplasm and contains two compartments. This leads also to a similar system of equations. Analysis of the steady-state problems is given. Some results on the existence and uniqueness of a global solution and the stability of the steady-state problems are summarized. A Hopf bifurcation result and a theorem on asymptotic stability are given for the limiting case of the models without diffusion. A proof for this theorem is stated in an appendix.