CoReNe

The CSB is involved in this alliance via the CoReNe-subproject of Prof. Allgöwer: Analysis of Gene Regulatory Networks from a Control Engineering Perspective

In this subproject, the role of feedback and other regulatory mechanisms in genetic networks is analyzed. Therefore, techniques from the broad area of control theory which are relevant for gene regulation networks are applied to the biological example systems and further developed with a focus on the mechanisms of interaction and regulatory control by non-coding RNA.

These techniques comprise methods for the analysis of negative feedback loops which are based on a system description with ordinary differential equations. But also hybrid models are promising in this context as they provide a link between the discrete models which can be derived from highthroughput measurement data, and a description using differential equations, which is typically used for control theoretic analysis. Important questions are the existence and stability of steady states and finding control mechanisms carried out by a general element such as non-coding RNA. So far, we have focused on the example systems “embryonal and adult dopaminergic system in mice” and “the notch gene regulatory network”