Sensitivity of mRNA Translation

Using the dynamic mean-field approximation of the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP), we investigate the effect of small changes in the initiation, exit, and elongation rates along the mRNA strand on the steady state protein translation rate. We focus on two special cases where exact closed-form expressions for the translation rate sensitivity can be derived. We discuss the ramifications of our results in the context of functional genomics, molecular evolution, and synthetic biology.