Robustness analysis of the detailed kinetic model of an ErbB signaling network by using dynamic sensitivity

PLoS One. 2017 May 24;12(5):e0178250. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178250. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

The ErbB receptor signaling pathway plays an important role in the regulation of cellular proliferation, survival and differentiation, and dysregulation of the pathway is linked to various types of human cancer. Mathematical models have been developed as a practical complementary approach to deciphering the complexity of ErbB receptor signaling and elucidating how the pathways discriminate between ligands to induce different cell fates. In this study, we developed a simulator to accurately calculate the dynamic sensitivity of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity (ERK*) and Akt activity (Akt*), downstream of the ErbB receptors stimulated with epidermal growth factor (EGF) and heregulin (HRG). To demonstrate the feasibility of this simulator, we estimated how the reactions critically responsible for ERK* and Akt* change with time and in response to different doses of EGF and HRG, and predicted that only a small number of reactions determine ERK* and Akt*. ERK* increased steeply with increasing HRG dose until saturation, while showing a gently rising response to EGF. Akt* had a gradual wide-range response to HRG and a blunt response to EGF. Akt* was sensitive to perturbations of intracellular kinetics, while ERK* was more robust due to multiple, negative feedback loops. Overall, the simulator predicted reactions that were critically responsible for ERK* and Akt* in response to the dose of EGF and HRG, illustrated the response characteristics of ERK* and Akt*, and estimated mechanisms for generating robustness in the ErbB signaling network.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Epidermal Growth Factor / metabolism
  • ErbB Receptors / antagonists & inhibitors
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism*
  • Histidine-Rich Glycoprotein
  • Humans
  • Kinetics
  • MAP Kinase Signaling System / drug effects
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Models, Biological*
  • Proteins / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects

Substances

  • Proteins
  • Histidine-Rich Glycoprotein
  • Epidermal Growth Factor
  • EGFR protein, human
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (25280107) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (26119716) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan to HK and JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. 15KT0084 and RIKEN Epigenome and Single Cell Project Grants to MOH. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.