Objective Many biological systems at cellular level consist of a high number of elements interacting in complex patterns. These systems often exhibit emergent behaviours that cannot be detected by reductionist approaches. Systems biology is the interdisciplinary methodology aiming at understanding the dynamics of life by determining how the elements of a biological system interact to form functional networks. This research proposal intends to make to advance the state-of-the-art in systems biology by making systematic use of formal models, and more precisely of the Petri nets formalism.The research will focus on the network of interactions involved in the protein synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a species of yeast. The overall goal of the proposal is to optimize the recombinant protein synthesis in this organism. This goal is to be achieved by means of three primary objectives: 1) to formally model the recombinant protein synthesis mechanism; 2) to analyse the obtained model by using formal methods; 3) to control the system behaviour to maximize the recombinant protein synthesis.The Petri net to be designed will model the different events taking place in the protein synthesis mechanism: transcription, translation, modification, transportation, degradation and secretion. The analysis of the Petri net will consider structural and dynamical properties, and special attention will be paid to the computation of throughput bounds and bottleneck identification. As bottlenecks constrain the throughput of the whole system, any control action aiming at maximizing the protein synthesis will be performed on them.Overall, this proposal intends to improve our understanding of the cellular mechanism regulating protein synthesis by providing mathematical modelling and analysis tools. This understanding will eventually enable us to control and optimize the synthesis of recombinant proteins, which are broadly used for vaccines, diagnostic tools and therapeutic purposes. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsvaccinesnatural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE EU contribution € 309 235,20 Address TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS CB2 1TN Cambridge United Kingdom See on map Region East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Renata Schaeffer (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
