Fig. 7. Experimental and simulation results of molecular concentration comparator.

a Time courses of r_{div_B} (blue) and r_{div_C} (red) at varying the two normalized initial total concentrations of inhibitor RNAs ${\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AB}}$ and ${\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AC}}$ in the experiment. ${\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AB}}$ = $u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AB}i}}^{\mathrm{tot}}/u_{{{\mathrm{T}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AB}i}}^{\mathrm{tot}}$ and ${\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AC}}=u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AC}i}}^{\mathrm{tot}}/u_{{{\mathrm{T}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AC}i}}^{\mathrm{tot}}$ (i = 1, 2), where the input initial total RNA concentrations are defined as $u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AB}1}}^{\mathrm{tot}}=$ [miR-6875-5p], $u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AB}2}}^{\mathrm{tot}}=$[miR-4634], and $u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AB}1}}^{\mathrm{tot}}=u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AB}2}}^{\mathrm{tot}}$; $u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AC}1}}^{\mathrm{tot}}=$[miR-1246], $u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AC}2}}^{\mathrm{tot}}=$ [miR-1307-3p], and $u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AC}1}}^{\mathrm{tot}}=u_{{{\mathrm{R}}^{†}}_{\mathrm{AC}2}}^{\mathrm{tot}}$. The $△\tilde{c}$ ($={\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AB}}-{\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AC}}$) was varied at (i) 1.25, (ii) 0.50, (iii) $-$0.50, (iv) $-$1.00, and (v) $-$1.25. RNase H concentration was fixed at 0.25 U/µL in all experiments. The plots in conditions (i) and (v) are identical to those in Figs. 5f and 5g, respectively. Data are presented as the mean ± SE of three field of view of microscopy observation. b Time difference Δτ at each of five RNA conditions (i)-(v) in the experiment. Data are presented as the mean; more than four field of view of microscopy observation in two independent experiments. c Schematic of the pathway selection depending on the ${\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AB}}$, ${\tilde{c}}_{\mathrm{AC}}$, and offset concentration $\sigma$ in the experiment. $\sigma$ was estimated as $-$0.75, which is the average of $\mathrm{\Delta }\tilde{c}$ between conditions (iii) and (iv). d Time courses of r_{div_B} (blue) and r_{div_C} (red) at varying inhibitor RNA concentrations in the reaction-diffusion simulation. The $\mathrm{\Delta }\tilde{c}$ was varied at (i) 1.25, (ii) 0.50, (iii) $-$0.50, (iv) $-$1.00, and (v) $-$1.25. The hybridization rate and the strand displacement rate between T^†_ABi and L^†_AB were set 10 times lower than those between T^†_ACi and L^†_AC, respectively. Threshold parameters K_AB and K_AC were set as 0.1 and 0.9, respectively. n = 16. e, f Time difference Δτ at each of five RNA conditions (i)–(v) in the reaction-diffusion simulation. The hybridization rate and the strand displacement rate between T^†_ABi and L^†_AB were set 10 times lower than those between T^†_ACi and L^†_AC, respectively. K_AB = 0.1 and K_AC = 0.9 ($\sigma \ne 0$). n = 16 (e). The hybridization rate and the strand displacement rate between T^†_ABi and L^†_AB were the same as those between T^†_ACi and L^†_AC, respectively. K_AB = 0.1 and K_AC = 0.1 ($\sigma =0$). n = 16 (f). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.