Neural Model of the Genetic Network*
Jiri
Vohradsky
From the Institute of Microbiology CAS, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic
Many cell control processes consist of networks
of interacting elements that affect the state of each other over
time. Such an arrangement resembles the principles of artificial neural
networks, in which the state of a particular node depends on the
combination of the states of other neurons. The
bacteriophage lysis/lysogeny decision circuit can be represented
by such a network. It is used here as a model for testing the validity
of a neural approach to the analysis of genetic networks. The model
considers multigenic regulation including positive and negative
feedback. It is used to simulate the dynamics of the lambda
phage regulatory system; the results are compared with experimental
observation. The comparison proves that the neural network model
describes behavior of the system in full agreement with experiments;
moreover, it predicts its function in experimentally inaccessible
situations and explains the experimental observations. The
application of the principles of neural networks to the cell control
system leads to conclusions about the stability and redundancy of
genetic networks and the cell functionality. Reverse engineering of the
biochemical pathways from proteomics and DNA micro array data using the
suggested neural network model is discussed.
*
This work was supported by Grant Agency of the Czech
Republic Grant 204/00/1253.The costs of publication of this
article were defrayed in part by the
payment of page charges. The article
must therefore be hereby marked
"advertisement" in
accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section
1734 solely to indicate this fact.