The Design Space of the Embryonic Cell Cycle Oscillator

Area of Science:

• Systems Biology
• Computational Biology
• Biophysics

Background:

• Analyzing biomolecular networks requires characterizing parameter spaces for specific behaviors.
• Large parameter numbers in models present significant analytical challenges.
• Understanding cell cycle oscillations is crucial for coordinating mitosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and illustrate methods for characterizing parameter domains corresponding to limit cycle oscillations in biomolecular network models.
• To apply these methods to a model of the embryonic cell cycle.
• To quantify the robustness of periodic trajectories within the identified parameter domain.

Main Methods:

• Geometric construction of bifurcation sets.
• Numerical continuation techniques.
• Random sampling of parameters.

Main Results:

• Delineation of the multidimensional oscillatory domain in the parameter space for the embryonic cell cycle model.
• Quantification of the robustness of periodic trajectories.
• Demonstration of a generalizable approach for parameter space analysis.

Conclusions:

• The developed approach effectively characterizes parameter domains for limit cycle oscillations in biomolecular models.
• The methods provide insights into the robustness of periodic biological behaviors.
• The generalizable approach can be applied to other cell cycle models and biomolecular networks.