Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Cellular Affinity of Particle-Stabilized Emulsion to Boost Antigen Internalization
10:06

Cellular Affinity of Particle-Stabilized Emulsion to Boost Antigen Internalization

Published on: September 2, 2022

2.3K

Global Stabilization of Boolean Networks to Control the Heterogeneity of Cellular Responses

Jung-Min Yang1, Chun-Kyung Lee1, Kwang-Hyun Cho2

  • 1School of Electronics Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.

Frontiers in Physiology
|August 4, 2018
PubMed

Insights

This study introduces a new method to control Boolean networks (BNs), which model cell behavior. The technique stabilizes these networks to a single state, potentially reducing cancer cell heterogeneity and improving targeted therapies.

Area of Science:

  • Systems Biology
  • Computational Biology
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • Boolean networks (BNs) model molecular regulatory networks and cell phenotypes.
  • Cancer cell heterogeneity necessitates control strategies for targeted therapy.
  • Attractors in BNs represent cell phenotypes, with ill phenotypes linked to cancer.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a novel control scheme for global stabilization of BNs to a unique fixed point.
  • To develop a method for reducing the number of attractors associated with undesirable cancer cell phenotypes.
  • To enable targeted therapy by controlling cellular responses.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing a sufficient condition for global stabilization based on the adjacency matrix.
  • Determining constant controls to steer the BN towards a specific fixed point.
  • Applying subsequent control to transform the fixed point into a desired attractor.

Main Results:

  • The proposed control scheme achieves global stabilization of BNs to a unique fixed point.
  • The method demonstrates polynomial complexity concerning state variables and exponential complexity concerning in-degree.
  • Simulations on a metastatic cell regulation network and the MAPK signaling network validate the approach.

Conclusions:

  • The novel control scheme offers an efficient method for stabilizing Boolean networks.
  • This approach has significant implications for controlling cancer cell heterogeneity and advancing targeted therapies.
  • The technique provides a pathway to manipulate cell fate determination by controlling regulatory networks.
Keywords:
Boolean networks (BNs)global stabilizationheterogeneitysequential controlsystems biology

More Related Videos

Global Identification of Co-Translational Interaction Networks by Selective Ribosome Profiling06:58

Global Identification of Co-Translational Interaction Networks by Selective Ribosome Profiling

Published on: October 7, 2021

3.0K
Measuring Global Cellular Matrix Metalloproteinase and Metabolic Activity in 3D Hydrogels07:39

Measuring Global Cellular Matrix Metalloproteinase and Metabolic Activity in 3D Hydrogels

Published on: January 22, 2019

7.9K

Related Concept Videos

Inflammatory Response I: Vascular and Cellular01:30

Inflammatory Response I: Vascular and Cellular

The inflammatory response is the body's defense against infection, injury, or irritation from bacteria, trauma, toxins, or heat. Inflammation helps locate and destroy pathogens and remove damaged tissue elements to heal the body. During this initial phase, fluid, blood products, and nutrients migrate to the injured area, resulting in redness, heat, swelling, ache, and loss of function. Moreover, signs of systemic inflammation include fever, increased WBC count, malaise, anorexia, nausea,...
16.6K
Global Climate Change01:50

Global Climate Change

Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
29.0K
Protein Networks02:26

Protein Networks

An organism can have thousands of different proteins, and these proteins must cooperate to ensure the health of an organism. Proteins bind to other proteins and form complexes to carry out their functions. Many proteins interact with multiple other proteins creating a complex network of protein interactions.
These interactions can be represented through maps depicting protein-protein interaction networks, represented as nodes and edges. Nodes are circles that are representative of a protein,...
4.6K
Nuclear Stability03:18

Nuclear Stability

Protons and neutrons, collectively called nucleons, are packed together tightly in a nucleus. With a radius of about 10−15 meters, a nucleus is quite small compared to the radius of the entire atom, which is about 10−10 meters. Nuclei are extremely dense compared to bulk matter, averaging 1.8 × 1014 grams per cubic centimeter. If the earth’s density were equal to the average nuclear density, the earth’s radius would be only about 200 meters.
To hold positively charged protons together...
23.3K
RNA Stability01:53

RNA Stability

Intact DNA strands can be found in fossils, while scientists sometimes struggle to keep RNA intact under laboratory conditions. The structural variations between RNA and DNA underlie the differences in their stability and longevity. Because DNA is double-stranded, it is inherently more stable. The single-stranded structure of RNA is less stable but also more flexible and can form weak internal bonds. Additionally, most RNAs in the cell are relatively short, while DNA can be up to 250 million...
35.8K
Network Covalent Solids02:18

Network Covalent Solids

Network covalent solids contain a three-dimensional network of covalently bonded atoms as found in the crystal structures of nonmetals like diamond, graphite, silicon, and some covalent compounds, such as silicon dioxide (sand) and silicon carbide (carborundum, the abrasive on sandpaper). Many minerals have networks of covalent bonds.
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...
16.2K