Local perturbation analysis: a computational tool for biophysical reaction-diffusion models.

ABSTRACT: Diffusion and interaction of molecular regulators in cells is often modeled using reaction-diffusion partial differential equations. Analysis of such models and exploration of their parameter space is challenging, particularly for systems of high dimensionality. Here, we present a relatively simple and straightforward analysis, the local perturbation analysis, that reveals how parameter variations affect model behavior. This computational tool, which greatly aids exploration of the behavior of a model, exploits a structural feature common to many cellular regulatory systems: regulators are typically either bound to a membrane or freely diffusing in the interior of the cell. Using well-documented, readily available bifurcation software, the local perturbation analysis tracks the approximate

SUBMITTER: Holmes WR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4302203 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature