Presentation
Modelling oscillations in NFkB and p53 transcription factors
Author: Sandeep Krishna, Niels Bohr Institute.
Names and affiliation of other authors:
M. H. Jensen and Kim Sneppen (Niels Bohr Institute)
Oral or poster: Poster
Abstract:
Oscillatory or periodic behaviour is quite commonly observed in biological systems. I will focus on ultradian oscillations in the concentrations of the
transcription factors NFkB and p53 involved in immune response and
cell-cycle regulation in mammalian cells, and present a mathematical model
of these systems, consisting of a set of coupled ordinary differential
equations. The core of both oscillators is a simple 3-variable negative
feedback loop, consisting of two proteins and one mRNA. Sustained
oscillations in this system depend on the presence of certain
non-linearities which arise from the interactions between the proteins, and
have the particular feature of being extremely spiky for a wide range of
parameters.