A common feature of both biological and man-made systems is the use of feedback to control their behavior. In this paper, we explore a particular model of biomolecular feedback implemented using a sequestration mechanism. This has been demonstrated to implement robust perfect adaption, often referred to as integral control in engineering. Our work generalizes a previous model of the sequestration feedback system and develops an analytical framework for understanding the hard limits, performance tradeoffs, and architectural properties of a simple model of biological control. We find that many of the classical tools from control theory and dynamical systems can be applied to understand both deterministic and stochastic models of the system. Our work finds that there are simple expressions that determine both the stability and the performance of these systems in terms of speed, robustness, steady-state error, and noise. These findings yield a holistic picture of the general behavior of sequestration feedback, and will hopefully contribute to a more general theory of biological control systems.

Hard Limits And Performance Tradeoffs In A Class Of Sequestration Feedback Systems