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Diversity of regulatory mechanisms. (A) Highly mobile regulators can engage in shuttling processes, which have concentrating effects. Often ligand gradients end up smaller than their expression domain. Shuttling mechanisms establish peak signaling opposite of the regulator, regardless of where morphogen is expressed. (B) Poorly diffusive regulators have primarily inhibitory effects as they bind ligand and block signaling. This can act in a source-sink function as the ligand diffuses towards the ‘sink’ of immobile regulators. (C) Countergradients involve highly mobile regulators, as in shuttling. However, countergradient regulators do not have any pro-signaling functions.
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