Mathematical Modeling of Cellular Signal
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DOCTORAL THESIS FOR A DOCTORAL DEGREE AT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIFE SCIENCES, JULIUS-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITÄT WÜRZBURG, SECTION BIOMEDICINE MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF CELLULAR SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION MATHEMATISCHE MODELLIERUNG DER ZELLULÄREN SIGNALTRANSDUKTION Submitted by GABY WANGORSCH from MELLRICHSTADT Würzburg, 2013 Submitted on: . Office stamp Members of the Promotionskomitee: Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Manfred Gessler Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Dandekar Supervisor (Second): Prof. Dr. Ulrich Walter Supervisor (Third): Prof. Dr. Jörg Schultz Date of Public Defence: . Date of Receipt of Certificates: . To Thomas T. in Memoriam Acknowledgements This doctoral thesis comprises research results arising from interdisciplinary collaborations of the Department of Bioinformatics at the University of Würz- burg together with the University Hospital Würzburg. Starting in March 2008, I have been a fellow of the Graduate School of Life Sciences, section Biomedicine, and member of the special research area (SFB688) on mecha- nisms and imaging of cardiovascular cell-cell-interactions. First and foremost, I would like to thank all the people who have accompa- nied and supported me over the last years. All members of my supervisory committee Prof. Thomas Dandekar, Prof. Jörg Schultz and Prof. Ulrich Walter, for their support within the Doctoral Study Program "Life Sciences" of the Graduate School of Life Sciences. My primary supervisor Prof. Thomas Dandekar, for giving me the oppor- tunity to meet the dynamic research field at the interface between mathe- matics, biology and medicine. He supported me with his unwavering opti- mism and encouraging guidance during the conductance of my research. My second supervisor Prof. Walter, the former speaker of the special re- search area (SFB688) on mechanisms and imaging of cardiovascular cell- cell-interactions, for offering such a comfortable and stimulating research environment. It was fascinating to immerse into the world of platelets, being tiny and anucleate blood cells but representing a pivotal regulatory target with regard to severe cardiovascular diseases. Following this, I am grateful for the funding by the DFG project SFB688. My third supervisor Prof. Jörg Schultz for introducing me into the myste- rious world of Perl, many helpful comments on my thesis and his persistent encouragement. My external collaborators Prof. Harald Wajant (Division of Molecular In- ternal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Würzburg) for sharing expert knowledge and data on inflammation signa- ling. Prof. Elke Butt, Dr. Jörg Geiger, Dr. Katharina Hubertus and Dr. Stepan Gambaryan (Institute of Clinical Biochemistry and Pathobiochemis- try, University of Würzburg) for fruitful discussions and providing data on platelets. My former working group at the University of Freiburg for discussions and support in data-based mathematical modeling. All associated members from the SFB688 for prosperous collaborations, in particular Prof. Stefan Frantz, Christina Pachel, Prof. Kristina Lorenz, Dr. Attila Braun, for starting and establishing interdisciplinary collaborations. My internal collaborators, for helpful and stimulating discussions and mee- tings, showing that there is much more about Bioinformatics than BLAST and alignments; Tobias Müller and Marcus Dittrich for training and support in data analysis; Nicole Philippi and Muhammad Naseem for exchanging ideas on computational modeling of biological systems; Desi and Santosh - my brave "plateleteers" - for forming such a dense and interacting clot of mutual information exchange; every thrombus may become envious of. All actual and former colleagues at the Department, especially Karin Lus- tre, Stefan Obermeier, Daniela Beißer, Christian Koetschan, Tina Schleicher, Alex the Great, Bärtierchen Frank, Michael Seidl, Astrid Fieselmann and the "plateleteers", for a very comfortable working atmosphere and many nice chats over some cups of coffee. Thanks for the unforgettable time also beyond room 116. Hopefully, the "interactions" we established during gra- duation will also have high edge scores in the future. The LATEX-command nusepackage[always]fcoffee, chocolateg and Daniel for donating the essential, motivating Leberwurscht. My "Stoogemer Mädels" together with the whole "Mühlfeld- and Werner- gang". The ties of our friendship are of incomparable value and helped a lot in managing the ups and downs in my life. My brother Klaus, for proof-reading, for always taking care of his little sister and cheering me up with his music and extraordinary cooking experiments. Lastly and surely the most, my entire family, especially my dear parents, for all their unconditional and perpetual love and support. 8 Abstract A subtly regulated and controlled course of cellular processes is essential for the healthy functioning not only of single cells, but also of organs being constituted thereof. In return, this entails the proper functioning of the whole organism. This implies a complex intra- and inter-cellular communi- cation and signal processing that require equally multi-faceted methods to describe and investigate the underlying processes. Within the scope of this thesis, mathematical modeling of cellular signa- ling finds its application in the analysis of cellular processes and signaling cascades in different organisms. First, a comprehensive systemic analysis of signaling pathways in human platelets is presented. These tiny blood cells play a key role in thrombosis and hemostasis. Based on an integrative platelet-specific data base (PlateletWeb), I developed interaction networks, qualitative and quantitative models of antagonistic signaling pathways in the platelet. On the basis of phosphoproteomic data, this afforded the in- tegration of potential substrates of key kinases into a functional network context. By means of a discrete dynamic model of central signaling cas- cades, I investigated the interplay between activatory and inhibitory signa- ling pathways towards the ultimate platelet aggregation. Extensive model simulations thereby documented the gradual activation of blood platelets to the point of aggregation. Data-based dynamic modeling of the inhibiting platelet cascade permitted quantitative model predictions of pivotal second messengers and yielded for the first time the quantification of central regu- lators. By comprehensively calibrating the dynamic model with time series data, I deciphered the feed-back regulation of second messengers (cAMP, cGMP) that lead to platelet inhibition. Model-based analyses of pathway cross-talks demonstrated the wide-ranging scope of pharmacological mo- dulation, not only in the platelet but also in other cell types such as cardio- myocytes. vii Inflammatory processes are regulated by a multitude of signaling cascades that are highly cross-linked as well. I here present a first mathematical mo- del for simulating the apoptotic cross-talk between TNF receptors, crucial mediators of inflammatory processes. In this type of signaling, the detailed and receptor-specific formation of the signal at the respective receptor is also of prime importance. Here, simulations of a structure-orientated ma- thematical model offer valuable clues about the strengths of ligand-encoded signal that is created at the particular receptor. Likewise, mathematical modeling and simulations are beneficial to decode the interplay of distinct phytohormones, as shown here using the example of Arabidopsis and pathogen Pst DC3000. Model-based forecasting together with profound validation by means of experimental data revealed multiple cross-talk for the hormone cytokinin with respect to plant immunity. Lastly, models describing intra- and inter-cellular signaling of different liver cells demonstrate the impact of combining mathematical models to func- tionally analyze the liver as a holistic cellular system. Within the framework of this thesis, I present mathematical methods for modeling cellular signaling cascades and their interplay in different orga- nisms. Resulting models form the basis for a systemic description and ana- lysis of cell-regulatory processes as well as for model-based predictions. This way, models guide further experimental investigation and are capable to indicate novel interaction points for pharmacological modulations. viii Zusammenfassung Das fein regulierte und kontrollierte Ablaufen zellulärer Prozesse ist es- sentiell für das gesunde Funktionieren einzelner Zellen, sowie der aus ih- nen bestehenden Organe. Diese wiederum bedingen das Funktionieren des gesamten Organismus. Genauso vielschichtig wie die Kommunikation und Signalverarbeitung innerhalb und zwischen den Zellen, sind die Methoden um diese Vorgänge zu beschreiben und zu untersuchen. Die mathematische Modellierung zellulärer Signalverarbeitung findet im Rahmen dieser Arbeit Anwendung in der Analyse zellulärer Prozesse und Signalkaskaden in verschiedenen Organismen. Zunächst wird eine um- fassende systemische Analyse von Signalwegen in humanen Blutplättchen gegeben. Diese kleinen Blutzellen spielen eine Schlüsselrolle in Throm- bose und Hämostase. Ausgehend von einer integrativen Blutplättchen-spe- zifischen Datenbank entwickelte ich Interaktionsnetzwerke sowie qualita- tive und quantitative Modelle zu antagonistischen Signalwegen der Blut- plättchen. Auf der Basis von Phosphoproteom-Daten war es möglich, po- tentielle Substrate wichtiger Kinasen in einen funktionellen Netzwerkkon- text zu setzen. In einem diskret-dynamischen Modell zentraler Signalkas- kaden untersuchte