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Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 218101 (2011) [5 pages]

Gene Expression Noise Facilitates Adaptation and Drug Resistance Independently of Mutation

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Daniel A. Charlebois1,2,*, Nezar Abdennur2,3, and Mads Kaern1,2,3,†
1Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 150 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada
2Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8M5, Canada
3Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8M5, Canada

Received 4 July 2011; published 14 November 2011

We show that the effect of stress on the reproductive fitness of noisy cell populations can be modeled as a first-passage time problem, and demonstrate that even relatively short-lived fluctuations in gene expression can ensure the long-term survival of a drug-resistant population. We examine how this effect contributes to the development of drug-resistant cancer cells, and demonstrate that permanent immunity can arise independently of mutations.

© 2011 American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.218101
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.218101
PACS:
87.10.Mn, 87.10.Rt, 87.16.Yc, 87.23.Cc

*daniel.charlebois@uottawa.ca

†mkaern@uottawa.ca

 
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