Structure and dynamical robustness of regulatory networks

In biological systems, highly robust information processing is crucial for fitness and survival. System output must be reproducible despite the intrinsic noise of the elements (genetic switches, neurons, etc.). Such noise poses severe stability problems to parallel information processing as it tends to desynchronize system dynamics (e.g. via fluctuating response or transmission time of the elements). We study the reliability of the output from networks of autonomous noisy elements. We find that the presence or absence of reliable dynamical attractors with self-sustained synchrony strongly depends on the underlying circuitry. Our model suggests that the observed motif structure of biological signaling networks is shaped by the biological requirement for reproducibility of attractors.