20 May 2011
Steven Wiley
Director, Biomolecular Systems
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
One of the greatest challenges in creating predictive models of signaling pathways is finding the right parameters. Because of the enormity of parameter space, especially for complex models, good constraints are needed to obtain realistic numbers. Surprisingly, biophysical measurements are rarely used to constrain model parameters. Knowing relative quantities of signaling molecules and their spatial and temporal regimes, however, can drastically reduce parameter space, allow for model simplification and reveal novel regulatory strategies that are used by cells.