Protein Production Models

Abstract: Passage through the cell cycle is marked by a temporally organized sequence of events including DNA replication, mitosis, and certain cell specific proteins and enzymatic activities. From experimental data it follows that the mitotic cycles in both embryonic and somatic cells appear to be controlled by the proteins cdc2 and cyclin that form a heterodimer (maturation promoting factor). Tyson et all constructed a mathematical model for the interaction of cdc2 and cyclin. A parameter sensitivity analysis of the model is showing the structural robust parts and the weak parts of the regulatory pathways involved. The methodology can be extended to more complicated models like regulatory circadian cycles in Drosophila melanogaster, urea cycle in humans, etc.