Simulation and Analysis of the Network Model of the Quorum Sensing Process during Biofilm Creation

摘要

System biology is one of the leading edge cross-subjects which requires the cooperation between computer science and biological science. Abstracting complex life phenomenon, like metabolic or transcription regulation pathway, into networks to simulate these processes is one of the hotspots in System biological research. In this paper, we construct a network to simulate one of the most concerned areas in micro-biological research, the formation of the biofilm structure. The research concerning the biofilm is critical as most pathogen micro-organism form this structure to resist most antibiotics. Specifically, we focused on the Quorum sensing pathway which is a microbial cell-cell communication process influencing the biofilm formation to a large extent. By deleting some of the components locating at different topological position within the network and analyzing the variation of topological parameters of the resulting networks, we discovered that the deletion of lasR or AHL1 can undermine the whole network to a great extent. Therefore, it can be predicted that the most crucial elements who may control the whole process is the lasR and AHL1. These predictions may provide valuable information for the drug-target design project and contribute to the control of the diseases brought by pathological micro-organism.