Reverse-engineering post-transcriptional regulation of gap genes in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Systems biology proceeds through repeated cycles of experiment and modeling. One way to implement this is reverse engineering, where models are fit to data to infer and analyse regulatory mechanisms. This requires rigorous methods to determine whether model parameters can be properly identified. Applying such methods in a complex biological context remains challenging. We use reverse engineering to study post-transcriptional regulation in pattern formation. As a case study, we analyse expression of the gap genes Krüppel, knirps, and giant in Drosophila melanogaster. We use detailed, quantitative datasets of gap gene mRNA and protein expression to solve and fit a model of post-transcriptional regulation, and establish its structural and practical identifiability. Our results demonstrate tha

SUBMITTER: Becker K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3814631 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature