[source] We suggested a model describing the dynamics of protein distributions in a proliferating cell population, motivated by chemostasis experiments on yeast in steady-state growth. Protein variation in our model is affected by a stochastic source internal to the cells and variation in division and inheritance at the population level, enabling us to assess the contribution and character of each of these components separately. We drew an analogy between the dynamics of protein distributions along cell generations and that of stress in layers of granular material.
In both cases a model with deterministic production and uniform division can be solved exactly. However, in contrast to the granular model, where a universal tail has been found, here we found sensitivity to the division function due to the inheritance structure of the biological population.
Non-equilibrium statistical mechanics of dividing cell populations
N. Brenner and Y. Shokef
Physical Review Letters 99, 138102 (2007)