Internal noise enhanced oscillation in a delayed circadian pacemaker

The effect of internal noise in a delayed circadian oscillator is studied by using both chemical Langevin equations and stochastic normal form theory. It is found that internal noise can induce circadian oscillation even if the delay time τ is below the deterministic Hopf bifurcation τh. We use signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to quantitatively characterize the performance of such noise induced oscillations and a threshold value of SNR is introduced to define the so-called effective oscillation. Interestingly, the τ-range for effective stochastic oscillation, denoted as ΔτEO, shows a bell-shaped dependence on the intensity of internal noise which is inversely proportional to the system size. We have also investigated how the rates of synthesis and degradation of the clock protein influence the SNR and thus ΔτEO. The decay rate Kd could significantly affect ΔτEO, while varying the gene expression rate Ke has no obvious effect if Ke is not too small. Stochastic normal form analysis and numerical simulations are in good consistency with each other. This work provides us comprehensive understandings of how internal noise and time delay work cooperatively to influence the dynamics of circadian oscillations.

Research Highlights► We study constructive role of noise in a delayed circadian oscillator. ► Internal noise can enhance the range for effective oscillation. ► Effective oscillation range shows maximum at optimal system size. ► Theoretical analysis successfully uncovers the mechanism. ► The phenomena are quite robust to parameter changes.