Systems biology approach to model the life cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi

Due to recent advances in reprogramming cell phenotypes, many efforts have been dedicated to developing reverse engineering procedures for the identification of gene regulatory networks that emulate dynamical properties associated with the cell fates of a given biological system. In this work, we pr...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Carrea, Alejandra, Diambra, Luis Aníbal
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:Argentina
Recursos:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Repositorio:SEDICI (UNLP)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/86040
Acesso em linha:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/86040
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Biología
Trypanosoma cruzi
Parasites
Descrição
Resumo:Due to recent advances in reprogramming cell phenotypes, many efforts have been dedicated to developing reverse engineering procedures for the identification of gene regulatory networks that emulate dynamical properties associated with the cell fates of a given biological system. In this work, we propose a systems biology approach for the reconstruction of the gene regulatory network underlying the dynamics of the Trypanosoma cruzi's life cycle. By means of an optimisation procedure, we embedded the steady state maintenance, and the known phenotypic transitions between these steady states in response to environmental cues, into the dynamics of a gene network model. In the resulting network architecture we identified a small subnetwork, formed by seven interconnected nodes, that controls the parasite's life cycle. The present approach could be useful for better understanding other single cell organisms with multiple developmental stages.