Slow relaxation and aging in the model of randomly connected cycles network

Abstract

We propose a statistical model of a large random network with high connectivity in order to describe the behavior of E. coli cells after exposure to acute stress. The building blocks of this network are feedback cycles typical of the genetic and metabolic networks of a cell. Each node on the cycles is a spin degree of freedom representing a component in the cell's network that can be in one of two states: active or inactive. The cycles are interconnected by regulation or by the exchange of metabolites. Stress is realized by an external magnetic field that drives the nodes into an inactive state, and the time the magnetization passes zero value for the first time represents the first division event of the cell after the stress period. The numerical and analytical solutions for this first passage problem reproduce the aging dynamics observed in the experimental data.