Improved estimation for energy dissipation in biochemical oscillations

Biochemical oscillations, regulating the timing of life processes, need to consume energy to achieve good performance on crucial functions, such as high accuracy of the phase period and high sensitivity to external signals. However, it is a great challenge to precisely estimate the energy dissipation in such systems. Here, based on the stochastic normal form theory, we calculate the Pearson correlation coefficient between the oscillatory amplitude and phase, and a trade-off relation between transport efficiency and phase sensitivity can then be derived, which serves as a tighter form than the estimator resulting from the conventional thermodynamic uncertainty relation. Our findings demonstrate that a more precise energy dissipation estimation can be obtained by enhancing the sensitivity of the biochemical oscillations. Moreover, the internal noise and amplitude power effects have also been discovered. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

Biochemical oscillations, which are crucial for regulating life processes, require energy consumption. This study investigates the challenge of estimating energy dissipation in such systems and proposes a trade-off relationship between transport efficiency and phase sensitivity. The findings highlight the importance of enhancing the sensitivity of biochemical oscillations for more accurate energy dissipation estimation.