Regulatory feedback on receptor and non-receptor synthesis for robust signaling.

Elaborate regulatory feedback processes are thought to make biological development robust, that is, resistant to changes induced by genetic or environmental perturbations. How this might be done is still not completely understood. Previous numerical simulations on reaction-diffusion models of Dpp gradients in Drosophila wing imaginal disc have showed that feedback (of the Hill function type) on (signaling) receptors and/or non-(signaling) receptors are of limited effectiveness in promoting robustness.

TRANSIENT FEEDBACK AND ROBUST SIGNALING GRADIENTS.

Robust development of biological organisms in the presence of genetic and epi-genetic perturbations is important for time spans short relative to evolutionary time. Gradients of receptor bound signaling morphogens are responsible for patterning formation and development. A variety of inhibitors for reducing ectopic signaling activities are known to exist and their specific role in down-regulating the undesirable ectopic activities reasonably well understood.