Stochastic Petri Net Models for the Study of Macrophage Reprogramming

摘要

In recent years, Petri nets are being used for modeling complex biological systems. Examples include the modeling of biochemical reactions, protein interaction networks, gene regulation networks and the immune system. In this work, Petri nets are used to model the innate immune response to a bacterial infection. The objective of this work is to study how changes in macrophage phenotype impact the regulation and resolution of the immune response. From simulations performed, we have observed that the conversion between a M1 proinflammatory phenotype to a M2 regulatory phenotype during an inflammatory response is an important process to avoid a state of persistent inflammation.