Modeling the activity of the dopamine signaling pathway by combination of analog electrical circuit and mathematical approaches

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the application of the system biology principles on the example of the dopamine signaling pathway in neurons. Presented model is based on two approaches – cytomorphic electronic circuits and mathematical modeling. Transcription and phosphorylation of DARPP-32 was modeled by analog circuit, based on well-known approaches presented in [1]. It was shown that application of circuit helps to receive signal oscillations that close to described ones in real biological systems. This combination on the one hand gives possibility to simplify calculations, on another to show this signaling pathway dynamics. The expected effect of changes in the functioning of calcium channels is considered, and the mathematical model of the interaction of system components is proposed. The average frequency of calcium current oscillations due to the presence of dopamine was 30 Hz in presented model, that is consistent with the literature, where the frequency of such oscillations is up to several tens of Hz. All presented results shows good correlation with known data, which already published today.

Keywords

• System biology
• Dopamine signaling pathway
• DARPP-32
• Cytomorphic electronics
• Analog circuits
• Mathematical biology