Response times upon one ceRNA perturbation.

<p>Increasing miRNA transcription rate ceRNA1 shows a maximum and a minimum in its response times upon switching on or off ceRNA2 transcription respectively (panel A and B). The maximum (minimum) is located near the threshold, where ceRNA1 initial value (that is its values before switching on (off) ceRNA2) is near to the steady state it will reach upon switching on (off) ceRNA2 (panel C) but is also more sensitive to ceRNA2 variation (look at the maximum in the Pearson's correlation coefficient between ceRNA1 and ceRNA2 in panel D). Different color lines correspond to different numbers of ceRNAs in competition for the same miRNA. The qualitative trend for response times and Pearson's correlation coefficient is robust with respect to increasing such number.