We introduce the idea of structural analysis of biological network models. In general, mathematical representations of molecular systems are affected by parametric uncertainty: experimental validation of models is always affected by errors and intrinsic variability of biological samples. Using uncertain models for predictions is a delicate task. However, given a plausible representation of a system, it is often possible to reach general analytical conclusions on the system's admissible dynamic behaviors, regardless of specific parameter values: in other words, we say that certain behaviors are structural for a given model. Here we describe a parameter-free, qualitative modeling framework and we focus on several case studies, showing how many paradigmatic behaviors such as multistationarity or oscillations can have a structural nature. We highlight that classical control theory methods are extremely helpful in investigating structural properties.
CITATION STYLE
Blanchini, F., & Franco, E. (2014). Structural analysis of biological networks. In A Systems Theoretic Approach to Systems and Synthetic Biology I: Models and System Characterizations (pp. 47–71). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9041-3_2
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