Prof. Adelle Coster (UNSW)

Abstract

Insulin has profound effects on cell metabolism, growth, proliferation and anti-apoptosis in mammalian cells. Dysregulation of the insulin signalling pathway is linked to the development of Type 2 diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, and cancer.

In general, measurements of living cells come from an external perspective – the key players may be known, but the details of their interactions are less well understood. The activation of the components in the insulin signalling pathway is controlled by not only biochemical phosphorylation but also by the physical location of the molecule, which may be translocated in response to upstream signals.

What can be inferred about this complex system, when the data is sparse and only subsets of states can be observed? Here we explore a mathematical model of a key component in the insulin signalling pathway of mammalian cells, Akt, and in doing so, identify the constraints on the timing of the upstream…