Richard Boys (Newcastle University)

Linking systems biology models to data: a stochastic kinetic model of p53 oscillations

This talk considers the assessment and refinement of a dynamic stochastic process model of the cellular response to DNA damage. The proposed model is a complex nonlinear continuous time latent stochastic process. It is compared to time course data on the levels of two key proteins involved in this response, captured at the level of individual cells in a human cancer cell line. The primary goal of is to "calibrate" the model by finding parameters of the model (kinetic rate constants) that are most consistent with the experimental data. Significant amounts of prior information are available for the model parameters. It is therefore most natural to consider a Bayesian analysis of the problem, using sophisticated MCMC methods to overcome the formidable computational challenges.