A systems biology approach: modelling of Aquaporin-2 trafficking

In healthy individuals, dehydration of the body leads to release of the hormone vasopressin from the pituitary. Via the bloodstream, vasopressin reaches the collecting duct cells in the kidney, where the water channel Aquaporin-2 (AQP2) is expressed. After stimulation of the vasopressin V2 receptor by vasopressin, intracellular AQP2-containing vesicles fuse with the apical plasma membrane of the collecting duct cells. This leads to increased water reabsorption from the pro-urine into the blood and therefore to enhanced retention of water within the body. Using existing biological data we propose a mathematical model of AQP-2 trafficking and regulation in collecting duct cells. Our model includes the vasopressin receptor, adenylate cyclase, protein kinase A, and intracellular as well as membrane located AQP2. To model the chemical reactions we used ordinary differential equations (ODEs) based on mass action kinetics. We employ known protein concentrations and time series data to estimate the kinetic parameters of our model and demonstrate its validity. Through generating, testing and ranking different versions of the model, we show that some model versions can describe the data well as soon as important regulatory parts such as the reduction of the signal by internalization of the vasopressin-receptor or the negative feedback loop representing phosphodiesterase activity are included. We perform time-dependent sensitivity analysis to identify the reactions that have the greatest influence on the cAMP and membrane located AQP2 levels over time. We predict the time courses for membrane located AQP2 at different vasopressin concentrations, compare them with newly generated data and discuss the competencies of the model.