Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.

Controller motifs are simple biomolecular reaction networks with negative feedback. They can explain how regulatory function is achieved and are often used as building blocks in mathematical models of biological systems. In this paper we perform an extensive investigation into structural identifiabi...

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Main Authors: Eivind S Haus, Tormod Drengstig, Kristian Thorsen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-08-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011398&type=printable
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author Eivind S Haus
Tormod Drengstig
Kristian Thorsen
author_facet Eivind S Haus
Tormod Drengstig
Kristian Thorsen
author_sort Eivind S Haus
collection DOAJ
description Controller motifs are simple biomolecular reaction networks with negative feedback. They can explain how regulatory function is achieved and are often used as building blocks in mathematical models of biological systems. In this paper we perform an extensive investigation into structural identifiability of controller motifs, specifically the so-called basic and antithetic controller motifs. Structural identifiability analysis is a useful tool in the creation and evaluation of mathematical models: it can be used to ensure that model parameters can be determined uniquely and to examine which measurements are necessary for this purpose. This is especially useful for biological models where parameter estimation can be difficult due to limited availability of measureable outputs. Our aim with this work is to investigate how structural identifiability is affected by controller motif complexity and choice of measurements. To increase the number of potential outputs we propose two methods for including flow measurements and show how this affects structural identifiability in combination with, or in the absence of, concentration measurements. In our investigation, we analyze 128 different controller motif structures using a combination of flow and/or concentration measurements, giving a total of 3648 instances. Among all instances, 34% of the measurement combinations provided structural identifiability. Our main findings for the controller motifs include: i) a single measurement is insufficient for structural identifiability, ii) measurements related to different chemical species are necessary for structural identifiability. Applying these findings result in a reduced subset of 1568 instances, where 80% are structurally identifiable, and more complex/interconnected motifs appear easier to structurally identify. The model structures we have investigated are commonly used in models of biological systems, and our results demonstrate how different model structures and measurement combinations affect structural identifiability of controller motifs.
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spelling doaj.art-2f5f522061c94b59bfec2e3fc64cd2302023-09-26T05:30:51ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582023-08-01198e101139810.1371/journal.pcbi.1011398Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.Eivind S HausTormod DrengstigKristian ThorsenController motifs are simple biomolecular reaction networks with negative feedback. They can explain how regulatory function is achieved and are often used as building blocks in mathematical models of biological systems. In this paper we perform an extensive investigation into structural identifiability of controller motifs, specifically the so-called basic and antithetic controller motifs. Structural identifiability analysis is a useful tool in the creation and evaluation of mathematical models: it can be used to ensure that model parameters can be determined uniquely and to examine which measurements are necessary for this purpose. This is especially useful for biological models where parameter estimation can be difficult due to limited availability of measureable outputs. Our aim with this work is to investigate how structural identifiability is affected by controller motif complexity and choice of measurements. To increase the number of potential outputs we propose two methods for including flow measurements and show how this affects structural identifiability in combination with, or in the absence of, concentration measurements. In our investigation, we analyze 128 different controller motif structures using a combination of flow and/or concentration measurements, giving a total of 3648 instances. Among all instances, 34% of the measurement combinations provided structural identifiability. Our main findings for the controller motifs include: i) a single measurement is insufficient for structural identifiability, ii) measurements related to different chemical species are necessary for structural identifiability. Applying these findings result in a reduced subset of 1568 instances, where 80% are structurally identifiable, and more complex/interconnected motifs appear easier to structurally identify. The model structures we have investigated are commonly used in models of biological systems, and our results demonstrate how different model structures and measurement combinations affect structural identifiability of controller motifs.https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011398&type=printable
spellingShingle Eivind S Haus
Tormod Drengstig
Kristian Thorsen
Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.
PLoS Computational Biology
title Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.
title_full Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.
title_fullStr Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.
title_full_unstemmed Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.
title_short Structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output.
title_sort structural identifiability of biomolecular controller motifs with and without flow measurements as model output
url https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011398&type=printable
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