Characterizing the relationship between stimulus-responsiveness and molecular fluxes in mathematical models of cell signal transduction
Paul Loriaux, University of California, San Diego
Signal transduction is the process by which cells process and respond to stimuli. As with any dynamic system, stimulus responsiveness is influenced by the resting state of the cell prior to stimulation. This resting state can be defined by the steady state concentrations of the molecular species (statics) and the rates at which those species are synthesized and degraded (kinetics). We would like to understand how these properties affect stimulus-responsiveness, for which we turn to mathematical models of signal transduction. We have developed a linearization method by which an analytical form for the steady state of signal transduction models can be derived, and from these analytical forms we identify perturbation vectors that alter the system kinetics but not the statics. By systematically applying these isostatic perturbation vectors to a number of different models, we derive interesting observations regarding the relationship between stimulus-responsiveness and system kinetics. Our methodology and results are presented here.
Abstract Author(s): Paul Loriaux, Alexander Hoffmann