The first step of the modeling process was to gain an understanding of the various chemical and biological agents, how they interacted with each other, and ultimately how these interactions caused the physiological changes in the cell. In order to accomplish this, the team spent several hours doing research on the various proteins involved in the pathway. Once the key components were identified, a simplified explanation of the process of interest was created. Below is the mechanism the team used for the basis of the model:
After laying out this process, the team began making evaluations as to which parts of the process would be important, and what kind of questions could be answered by the model. After careful deliberation and discussion, the team decided that the questions of interest to the project were to determine the sensitivity of the circuit and the time after exposure that fluorescence is detectable. With those questions in mind, the system was broken into four distinct portions: initiation, transduction, production, and regulation.
The initiation portion of the model pertained to the interactions between the pheromone and the receptor. Since one of the goals of the model was to address the sensitivity of the construct, this portion was mostly conserved and incorporated into the model. The transduction portion covered most of the unmodified kinase cascade covered in the mechanism. Because of the relatively short time period of these interactions in comparison to the approximated time frame of the circuit, and the well characterized and unchanged nature of this part of the pathway, these interactions were removed from the model. The third portion of the model covered the transcriptional and translational activities necessary for the production of the construct. The final module of the model was accounting for the regulatory functions contained in the construct.
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