title: Executing multicellular differentiation: quantitative predictive modelling of C.elegans vulval development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Understanding the processes involved in multi-cellular pattern formation is a central problem of developmental biology, hopefully leading to many new insights, e.g. in the treatment of various diseases. Defining suitable computational techniques for development modelling, able to perform in silico simulation experiments, is an open and challenging problem.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Previously, we proposed a coarse-grained, quantitative approach based on the basic Petri net formalism, to mimic the behaviour of the biological processes during multicellular differentiation. Here, we apply our modelling approach to the well-studied process of Caenorhabditis elegans vulval development. We show that our model correctly reproduces a large set of in vivo experiments with statistical accuracy. It also generates gene expression time series in accordance with recent biological evidence. Finally, we modelled the role of microRNA mir-61 during vulval development and predict its contribution in stabilizing cell pattern formation.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bioinformatics and Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1083, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bonzanni
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krepska
authors.forename: K Anton
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Feenstra
authors.forename: Wan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fokkink
authors.forename: Thilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kielmann
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bal
authors.forename: Jaap
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heringa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000254:growth & development*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D038081:Organogenesis; D014844:Vulva / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs