Analysis of variation of amplitudes in cell cycle gene expression

BACKGROUND: Variation in gene expression among cells in a population is often considered as noise produced from gene transcription and post-transcription processes and experimental artifacts. Most studies on noise in gene expression have emphasized a few well-characterized genes and proteins. We investigated whether different cell-arresting methods have impacts on the maximum expression levels (amplitudes) of a cell cycle related gene. RESULTS: By introducing random noise, modeled by a von Mises distribution, to the phase angle in a sinusoidal model in a cell population, we derived a relationship between amplitude and the distribution of noise in maximum transcription time (phase). We applied our analysis to Whitfield's HeLa cell cycle data. Our analysis suggests that among 47 cell cycle related genes common to the 2(nd )experiment (thymidine-thymidine method) and the 4(th )experiment (thymidine-nocodazole method): (i) the amplitudes of CDC6 and PCNA, which are expressed during G1/S phase, are smaller in the 2(nd )experiment than in the 4(th), while the amplitude of CDC20, which is expressed during G2/M phase, is smaller in the 4(th )experiment; and (ii) the two cell-arresting methods had little impact on the amplitudes of the other 43 genes in the 2(nd )and 4(th )experiments. CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggests that procedures that arrest cells in different stages of the cell cycle differentially affect expression of some cell cycle related genes once the cells are released from arrest. The impact of the cell-arresting method on expression of a cell cycle related gene can be quantitatively estimated from the ratio of two estimated amplitudes in two experiments. The ratio can be used to gauge the variation in the phase/peak expression time distribution involved in stochastic transcription and post-transcriptional processes for the gene. Further investigations are needed using normal, unperturbed and synchronized HeLa cells as a reference to compare how many cell cycle related genes are directly and indirectly affected by various cell-arresting methods.