Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.

Understanding how gene alterations induce oncogenesis plays an important role in cancer research and may be instructive for cancer prevention and treatment. We conducted a parameter sensitivity analysis to the mitochondrial apoptosis model. Both a nonlinear bifurcation analysis of the deterministic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xianli Chen, Xiaoguang Li, Wei Zhao, Tiejun Li, Qi Ouyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2018-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198579&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849715558859145216
author Xianli Chen
Xiaoguang Li
Wei Zhao
Tiejun Li
Qi Ouyang
author_facet Xianli Chen
Xiaoguang Li
Wei Zhao
Tiejun Li
Qi Ouyang
author_sort Xianli Chen
collection DOAJ
description Understanding how gene alterations induce oncogenesis plays an important role in cancer research and may be instructive for cancer prevention and treatment. We conducted a parameter sensitivity analysis to the mitochondrial apoptosis model. Both a nonlinear bifurcation analysis of the deterministic dynamics and energy barrier analysis of the corresponding stochastic models were performed. We found that the parameter sensitivity ranking according to the change of the bifurcation-point locations in deterministic models and the change of the barrier heights from a living to death state of the cell in stochastic models are highly correlated. For the model we considered, in combination with previous knowledge that the parameters significantly affecting the system's bifurcation point are strongly associated with frequently mutated oncogenic genes, we conclude that the energy barrier height can be used as indicator of oncogenesis as well as bifurcation point. We provide a possible mechanism that may help elucidate the logic of cancer initiation from the view of stochastic dynamics and energy landscape. And we show the equivalence of energy barrier height and bifurcation-point location in determining the parameter sensitivity spectrum for the first time.
format Article
id doaj-art-1f812c16c25f4042bf0b2d3acea582f0
institution DOAJ
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-1f812c16c25f4042bf0b2d3acea582f02025-08-20T03:13:19ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032018-01-01136e019857910.1371/journal.pone.0198579Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.Xianli ChenXiaoguang LiWei ZhaoTiejun LiQi OuyangUnderstanding how gene alterations induce oncogenesis plays an important role in cancer research and may be instructive for cancer prevention and treatment. We conducted a parameter sensitivity analysis to the mitochondrial apoptosis model. Both a nonlinear bifurcation analysis of the deterministic dynamics and energy barrier analysis of the corresponding stochastic models were performed. We found that the parameter sensitivity ranking according to the change of the bifurcation-point locations in deterministic models and the change of the barrier heights from a living to death state of the cell in stochastic models are highly correlated. For the model we considered, in combination with previous knowledge that the parameters significantly affecting the system's bifurcation point are strongly associated with frequently mutated oncogenic genes, we conclude that the energy barrier height can be used as indicator of oncogenesis as well as bifurcation point. We provide a possible mechanism that may help elucidate the logic of cancer initiation from the view of stochastic dynamics and energy landscape. And we show the equivalence of energy barrier height and bifurcation-point location in determining the parameter sensitivity spectrum for the first time.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198579&type=printable
spellingShingle Xianli Chen
Xiaoguang Li
Wei Zhao
Tiejun Li
Qi Ouyang
Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
PLoS ONE
title Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
title_full Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
title_fullStr Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
title_full_unstemmed Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
title_short Parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.
title_sort parameter sensitivity analysis for a stochastic model of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198579&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT xianlichen parametersensitivityanalysisforastochasticmodelofmitochondrialapoptosispathway
AT xiaoguangli parametersensitivityanalysisforastochasticmodelofmitochondrialapoptosispathway
AT weizhao parametersensitivityanalysisforastochasticmodelofmitochondrialapoptosispathway
AT tiejunli parametersensitivityanalysisforastochasticmodelofmitochondrialapoptosispathway
AT qiouyang parametersensitivityanalysisforastochasticmodelofmitochondrialapoptosispathway