Thermodynamic limits on general far-from-equilibrium molecular templating networks

Benjamin Qureshi; Jenny M. Poulton; Thomas E. Ouldridge

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arXiv · 2404.02791

Thermodynamic limits on general far-from-equilibrium molecular templating networks

Benjamin Qureshi·Jenny M. Poulton·Thomas E. Ouldridge

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Abstract

Cells produce RNA and proteins via molecular templating networks. We show that information transmission in such networks is bounded by functions of a simple thermodynamic property of the network, regardless of complexity. Surprisingly, putative systems operating at this bound do not have a high flux around the network. Instead, they have low entropy production, with each product in a ``pseudo-equilibrium'' determined by a single pathway. These pseudo-equilibrium limits constrain information transmission for the overall network, even if individual templates are arbitrarily specific.

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Benjamin Qureshi, Jenny M. Poulton, Thomas E. Ouldridge. 2024-04-03. Thermodynamic limits on general far-from-equilibrium molecular templating networks. https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.02791

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