Table 2 Assumptions in the learning hierarchical-pair model are supported by biological knowledge.

From: Learning processes in hierarchical pairs regulate entire gene expression in cells

Model assumptions

Biological findings

Regulation

Competition

A transcription factor chooses a binding locus among candidates, depending on the openness ratio of the chromatin

Epigenomic

Amplification

Transcriptional coactivators with histone acetyltransferase activity relax the chromatin structure

Transcription opens the chromatin, and the open chromatin structure induces transcription

Bias (no extinction)

Additive increase

Whole-genome in every somatic cell

Genetic

Conventional genetic regulation of transcription

Error (approximated)-dependent decay

Cellular stress responses

Dependent on cell and environment

Feedback from the current fitness

Rough evaluation of the current state

Histone deacetylases and DNA methyltransferases close the chromatin structure

Non-coding RNA-dependent cleavage

RNA-mediated epigenomic modification

Hierarchical-pair architecture

Signal transduction cascades for gene expression

Genetic

Topologically associated domains (TADs)

Competitive amplification in hierarchical pairs

Active and expressed cascades are preferentially selected and activated

Cell-type dependent

Post-translational

Kinase is activated by phosphorylation at multiple sites

Error-dependent decay in hierarchical pairs

Cellular stress responses

Dependent on cell and environment

Dephosphorylation

Polyubiquitin dependent degradation

RNA-mediated epigenomic modification

  1. Epigenetic regulations, which are highly variable depending on cell type, can be interpreted as a process of competitive amplification. The decay rate is roughly regulated at several levels by the fitness of the current expression pattern in each pair. The correct expression level of each gene is not supervised in real cells. Instead, two functionally related gene-groups are regulated in a pair, in which the inappropriate expression ratio induces cellular stress, increases the decay, and destabilizes the ratio. As a possible feedback regulation for the error-dependent decay, cleaved mRNA fragments coding excessive proteins may close the genome loci. Hierarchical pairs are genetically determined and consistent in all cell-types.