Time delay effects on oscillation profiles in cyclic gene regulatory networks: Harmonic balance approach

Oscillatory gene expression is closely connected to periodic physiological functions. In this paper, we provide a systematic method to study the oscillation profiles of gene expression in large-scale cyclic genetic regulatory networks based on multivariable harmonic balance. In particular, we here turn our attention to time delay in transcription and translation process, and analytically derive the relation between biological parameters and the frequency, phase and amplitude of the oscillations. Then, the roles of the time delay are revealed.