Where and when

speaker: Silvia Berra  
affiliation: Health Researcher at IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa  
date: Monday, November 13^th 2023, 9am (Italian time)
venue: Genoa (Italy), Polo Valletta Puggia – Università di Genova: DIBRIS-DIMA (room 714) and Google Meet

Chemical reaction networks for modelling colorectal cancer cells signalling

abstract: During G1-S transition phase of life of colorectal cells many protein reactions take place, some of which are particularly critical since mutations affecting some proteins function can cause diseases as cancer. The set of these interactions can be described through a properly designed chemical reaction network (CRN), which, from a mathematical viewpoint, can be modelled as a system of autonomous ordinary differential equations. Computing the equilibria of this system is a key step for understanding the global (and local) effects of each mutation and of some specific drugs. Therefore, it is crucial for determining which drug to administer, and in which dosage, in order to restore the healthy state of a mutated cell. During this seminar I will present a Non-Linear Projected Combined (NLPC) method, a root-finding algorithm based on the combination of Newton method and gradient descent approach, for computing such equilibria. I will show some of the results obtained by applying it to colorectal mutated cells and, in the end, give an idea about how to enlarge a CRN with new pathways of reactions when necessary.